Credit cooperation allows "members' bank" to operate normally.

Editor's note: cooperative credit cooperation is a clear requirement of the third Plenary session of the 18th CPC Central Committee and the No. 1 document of the CPC Central Committee in 2015, and it is also the urgent voice and desire of the peasant masses. In recent years, the beneficial attempts carried out around credit cooperation in some places have achieved good results, which have played a certain role in developing agricultural production and alleviating the difficulty of farmers' loans. But on the whole, the relevant policy boundaries need to be further clarified to promote the steady and healthy development of cooperative credit cooperation.

With the consent of the State Council and the approval of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Shandong, as the only pilot province in the country for the reform of the new type of rural cooperative finance, has been promoting the new type of rural cooperative finance on a pilot basis since January 2015. standardize the business of mutual credit on the platform of farmers' professional cooperatives and solve the financing difficulties of farmers' production and operation. At a press conference on Shandong's financial reform and development held a few days ago, Li Yongjian, director of the Shandong Financial Office, said that by the end of June this year, 160 cooperatives in the province had participated in the pilot project, with more than 10,000 members participating in the pilot project. the cumulative amount of mutual aid business is 33.088 million yuan.

With a unified policy and financial sector supervision, cooperatives feel "less risk and peace of mind"

On September 3, Kong Linghai, a farmer in Jiisuo Village, Tengzhou City, wanted to plant tomatoes in his greenhouse, but he still needed a piece of money to buy agricultural film and chemical fertilizer, so he applied for a loan of 10,000 yuan for a period of six months to buy agricultural materials.

After examination and confirmation, the cooperative reported to the custodian bank of the mutual fund, and the custodian bank immediately transferred 10,000 yuan to Kong Linghai's account. "when we grow a greenhouse, we invest a lot at one time, and we often have it when we are short of money. It is a good thing to participate in mutual financial assistance, which is simple and convenient." Kong Linghai said.

The Grade Xiang Cooperative is a pilot unit of new rural cooperative finance recognized by the financial department in 2015. The cooperative has carried out the business of mutual financial assistance internally since May 2008.

Zhou Guangjian, chairman of the cooperative, summed up the differences before and after the pilot with "four major changes": before the pilot, the cooperative set up its own capital pool, and the deposit and loan business managed by itself; after the pilot, the capital pool was cancelled, and the finance was handed over to the custodian bank to manage. Before the pilot, there is no upper limit on the deposit of members in the fund pool, and there is no upper limit on the total amount of funds in the fund pool; after the pilot, the total amount of deposit funds and mutual funds of members has been set an upper limit. Before the pilot project, members' deposits are attracted by interest; after the pilot project, members' deposits are attracted by dividends, and the income generated by mutual assistance of cooperative funds is paid quarterly dividends. Before the pilot project, I fumbled on my own in terms of qualification, business process, and management system; after the pilot, the province had a unified policy and implementation methods, and there was supervision by the financial sector, which made it feel "less risky and more secure."

"Zhou Guangjian's summary objectively reflects the development process of the supply and marketing cooperative system guiding cooperatives to carry out mutual financial assistance." Yu Qingfeng, deputy director of the Council of supply and Marketing Cooperatives of Shandong Province, said. As early as 2007, Shandong supply and Marketing Cooperatives issued documents to arrange grass-roots supply and marketing cooperatives to explore and carry out credit mutual aid business within their lead cooperatives. In 2014, the supply and marketing cooperatives set up a cooperative finance department to clean up the links, set up counters, and hang "mutual financial assistance" signs, and the business has entered a stage of standardized development.

By the end of June this year, there were 191 farmers' cooperatives in Shandong supply and marketing cooperatives that regulated the business of mutual credit, with a total mutual fund of 447 million yuan. Among them, 56 cooperatives have been certified by local financial regulatory authorities to participate in the provincial pilot projects, accounting for 35% of the total number of pilot projects in Shandong.

The internal operation of the cooperative is closed, and the mutual fund operation of "small short-term" loans is more standardized.

Zhao Lizheng, deputy director of the Shandong Provincial Finance Office, said: "adhere to the basic principles of the membership system and the closed system. In order to avoid the financial risks of the reform pilot, the total mutual funds of cooperatives shall not exceed 5 million yuan in principle. The borrowing amount of individual members shall not exceed 5 per cent of the total mutual fund. Mutual funds are mainly used to support the liquidity needs of the production and operation of cooperatives, generally not more than one year. "

Shandong pilot program identified Shandong Agricultural Credit Union and Shandong Branch of Agricultural Bank of China as fund custodian banks, and explicitly required local financial regulatory departments to dynamically supervise cooperatives.

"members know very well that the maximum amount of loans is 30,000 yuan, up to half a year at the most. There is basically no risk to carry out such 'small short-term' loans within cooperatives. " Zhou Guangjian said, "the cooperative has issued a total of more than 15 million yuan in loans without an accident."

Now, according to the provincial pilot program, the operation of mutual financial assistance in Jixiang cooperatives has become more standardized. The upper limit for members' deposits in cooperatives is set at three times the per capita net income of local farmers last year, that is, 50,000 yuan, and the total mutual fund of Jixiang cooperatives is limited to 1.6 million yuan. Members borrow from co-operatives at a monthly interest rate of 8%, which is similar to that of local rural credit cooperatives. After the cooperative makes a profit by lending funds, it shall pay dividends to the members on a quarterly basis after deducting costs.

In terms of business process, Jixiang Cooperative has explored the "448" model, that is, adhering to the four principles of democratic decision-making, voluntary membership, closed operation, independent accounting, small dispersion, self-risk, steady progress and compliance with regulations; standardize membership qualification, member contribution, lending business and standardize rules and regulations The credit mutual aid business is divided into eight steps: application for credit, credit evaluation, application for loan, loan examination and approval, fund collection, loan issuance, maturity recovery, principal return.

On the basis of standardization, it is necessary to explore new models of credit mutual assistance, such as "Treasury loan linkage" and "warehouse receipt pledge".

Li Yongjian said frankly that on the basis of pilot promotion, we should strive to initially establish a new rural cooperative financial framework that is compatible with Shandong's agricultural and rural development, standardized operation, effective supervision, and obvious results by the end of 2017. At the same time, by improving supporting policies and regulatory systems, strengthening training exchanges and other measures, grass-roots units are encouraged to explore new models and feasible paths for the development of rural cooperative finance.

Such a new model is already in place.

Hedong District of Linyi City is one of the birthplaces of Shandong supply and marketing cooperatives to explore and promote cooperative mutual fund business. Lin Tingxuan, director of the Desheng garlic planting Professional Cooperative in this area, told reporters: "the leading industry of the cooperative is garlic. In addition to the small capital demand in the production process, the members also need a large amount of funds in the garlic stalk and garlic purchase and sale links. Therefore, there is in-depth cooperation between the cooperative and the rural credit cooperative of Zhengwang Town, a trustee bank. With self-built cold storage as collateral, the cooperative is granted a credit of 10 million yuan by the rural credit cooperative, plus 6.5 million yuan of mutual fund for the cooperative to provide financial services for members to participate in collection, storage and operation. Members can use garlic stalks or garlic stored in the warehouse as collateral, and cooperatives provide them with financial services in the proportion of 70%. "

This year, member Zhu Chongyue invested more than 1.2 million yuan with a loan of more than 800,000 yuan from the cooperative and saved 400000 jin of garlic stalks and garlic. "minus storage costs and wear and tear, you can earn 200,000 to 300,000 yuan this year." Zhu Chongyue smiled and said.

Jiang Jinguang, director of the cooperative finance department of the provincial supply and marketing cooperative, said that this business model is based on the fact that cooperatives have cold storage and other storage facilities, members have the willingness to engage in collection and operation, and cooperatives can provide accurate market information and other services, minimizing risk.

Industry insiders believe that more and more cooperatives have their own warehousing service facilities, so this kind of credit mutual aid business of "treasury loan linked" and "warehouse receipt pledge" has more room for growth. Rural credit cooperatives should take the initiative to play the role of custodian banks, innovate credit and financial products, and provide full financial support.

In addition, various types of credit mutual aid business development models, such as agricultural materials services, agricultural products processing and sales, supply and marketing services, comprehensive services, land trusteeship, rural tourism and self-owned capital services, are also being actively explored.