Staff members from the Postal Savings Bank of China Baishan branch learn about the ginseng planting industry in Linjiang, Baishan, Jilin province. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

Special guarantee loans offered by the Baishan branch of Postal Savings Bank have been solving financing problems faced by rural residents in the city of Baishan in Northeast China's Jilin province, as well as helping them to increase their incomes.

The Limin Chinese Medicinal Materials Planting Farmers Professional Cooperative was established on October 23, 2008 in Xinancha village in Linjiang. It is mainly engaged in the cultivation, processing, and sale of Chinese herbal medicine, ginseng, and dandelion.

Ginseng must undergo four years of planting and cultivation before it can enter the market.

The Postal Bank of China Baishan branch launched a special guaranteed loan, which seeks to solve the problems farmers faced during this four-year period, including unsecured farmer loans, difficult or expensive financing, the long ginseng planting cycle, and slow capital return.

The guaranteed loan is simple to obtain, has low interest rates, and flexible loan terms.

From 2018 to 2020, the Linjiang sub-branch handled six agricultural loan transactions for Zhang Jianshun, general manager of the cooperative, worth 7.5 million yuan ($1.16 million).

Bank staff members visit the planting base of the cooperative in Linjiang. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]

With the money from this loan, the cooperative's business has become successful.

In the past, there was no processing factory in Xinancha village, and ginseng grown by villagers had to be sent to Wanliang town for processing.

Now, the cooperative can process ginseng, as well as help villagers process ginseng themselves. The processing factory developed by the cooperative has helped rural residents of nearby villages find employment, and the annual labor expenditure of the factory has reached more than 700,000 yuan. 

Bank staff members learn about the ginseng planting industry in Linjiang. [Photo provided to gojilin.gov.cn]