New Directions In Chinas Agricultural Lending

China has substantially boosted lending to farmers & agribus. in recent years. The balance of loans to farmers doubled between 2001 & 2005. Loans for agribus. & rural infrastructure rose as well. Rural credit coop. & banks that lend to ag. are being reformed & commercialized but ag. lending is still largely policy-driven. The boost in farm lending is one of several policy initiatives to aid farmers. Chinese ag. remains dominated by extremely small farms using little physical capital, but rising investment is helping the sector diversify & is improving the quality & safety of ag. produce. The campaign to inject capital into rural China is enabled by an abundant supply of domestic savings & large inflows of foreign investment. Illustrations.