Briefly

Agri biz to get better financial services

Chinese financial and agricultural authorities have demanded efforts to improve financial services for new types of agricultural business entities amid the country's push for rural vitalization and agricultural and rural modernization. The rural inclusive financial reform experiments will be expanded, while pilot zones for financial services supporting rural vitalization will be built, according to a document jointly released by the People's Bank of China, the central bank, and five other government departments. New types of rural business entities such as family farms and farmers' cooperatives have gradually become a vital force in ensuring farmers' income growth, the supply of agricultural products and the transformation and upgrading of the agricultural sector, it said.

Natural gas output up 11.6% in Jan-April

Natural gas output grew in China during the first four months of the year, according to official data. The country's natural gas output rose 11.6 percent on a yearly basis to 70.2 billion cubic meters during the period, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The output was 23.1 percent higher than the level seen in 2019, putting average January-April growth at 10.9 percent for 2020 and 2021. In April alone, China's natural gas output came in at 16.9 billion cubic meters, up 7 percent year-on-year, and the average daily production came in at 560 million cubic meters.

Private wealth grows at steady pace

Private wealth in China has seen steady expansion as the country's economy continues to power ahead, said a wealth report jointly released by China Merchants Bank and global management consulting firm Bain& Co. By the end of last year, investable assets of Chinese citizens rose to 241 trillion yuan ($37.48 trillion), with the compound annual growth rate between 2018 and 2020 reaching 13 percent, said the report. Last year, the number of high net-worth individuals with investable assets of over 10 million yuan in the country reached 2.62 million.

Xinhua