China pledges billions more in funds to aid disaster-stricken farm regions

BEIJING/HONG KONG: China’s central bank said on Tuesday it will provide an additional 100 billion yuan ($14 billion) to banks to support rebuilding areas devastated by floods, after recent extreme weather damaged around 6 million acres of crops.

The world’s largest agricultural importer has in recent weeks been plagued by Typhoon Gaemi lashing its eastern seaboard, record rains in its southern rice fields, and intense heat waves across its northern corn and wheat yielding regions.

After state media reported Vice Premier Liu Guozhong called for China’s vast agricultural sector to push for a bumper harvest this autumn, the central bank announced it will issue a further 100 billion yuan of a re-lending facility to support 12 areas with flood prevention and reconstruction initiatives.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) will direct the funding towards Fujian, Guangdong, Henan, Heilongjiang, Hunan, Jilin, Jiangxi, Liaoning, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces, along with the megacity of Chongqing and the Guangxi region, and to farmers, small and micro-sized firms and households, a statement said.