A spokesman with the Agricultural Bank of China said on January 13 that the bank will support China's efforts in restructuring its rural economy by increasing loans and rationalizing investment fields.

According to the spokesman, the bank in 1999 granted loans of 165.2 billion yuan to the agricultural sector. By the end of the year, the outstanding amount of the loans reached 233.1 billion yuan, up 11.5 percent from the beginning of the year.

Loans extended by the bank in the rural economy amounted to 908.5 billion yuan, accounting for over 70 percent of the bank's total outstanding loans.

The Agricultural Bank will readjust its targeted investment fields in accordance with the requirements of agricultural and rural economic restructuring. Key support will be given to agricultural industrialized management, fine varieties in planting and animal husbandry sectors, rural private businesses, and agricultural and rural infrastructure.

This year the bank will continue to grant more loans in agriculture than last year, the spokesman said. (Xinhua)