Speakers:
Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission
Zhao Huan, chairman of China Development Bank
Gu Shu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China
Luo Xi, chairman of the People's Insurance Company of China
Song Shuguang, chairman of China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation
Chairperson:
Shou Xiaoli, deputy head of the Press Bureau of the State Council Information Office (SCIO) and spokesperson of the SCIO
Date:
March 2, 2021
Shou Xiaoli:
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the press conference of the State Council Information Office. The fifth plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) made it clear that China will promote high-quality development. The high-quality development of the banking and insurance sectors is of great significance in achieving high-quality economic and social development. Today, we are pleased to invite Mr. Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, to brief you on issues regarding promoting the high-quality development of the banking and insurance sectors, and field questions. We also have with us Mr. Zhao Huan, chairman of China Development Bank; Mr. Gu Shu, chairman of the Agricultural Bank of China; Mr. Luo Xi, chairman of the People's Insurance Company of China; and Mr. Song Shuguang, chairman of China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation. Next, I will give the floor to Mr. Guo.
Guo Shuqing:
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, comrades and friends, good morning. First of all, on behalf of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), and all the chairmen present at today's press conference, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to friends from the media who have been supporting the reform and development of the banking and insurance sectors for a long time. I hope you all enjoyed the Chinese New Year and are doing well.
Faced with the severe and complex domestic and international situations in 2020, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, the CBIRC and the entire banking and insurance sectors resolutely implemented the decisions and deployments of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council. We have been enhancing the Party's political building as the overarching principle; strengthening our consciousness of the need to maintain political integrity, think in big-picture terms, follow the leadership core, and keep in alignment with the central Party leadership; staying confident in the path, theory, system, and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics; upholding General Secretary Xi Jinping's core position on the CPC Central Committee and in the CPC as a whole, and upholding the CPC Central Committee's authority and its centralized and unified leadership. Under the command of the Financial Stability and Development Committee of the State Council, we have risen to the challenges and acted proactively, remained committed to the general principle of pursuing progress while ensuring stability, pursued supply-side structural reform as our main task, resolutely worked to win the battle to forestall and defuse financial risks, and strived to advance the modernization of the financial governance system and capabilities. Solid progress has been made in various tasks.
First, we have contributed to the rapid recovery of the national economy which shifted from stagnation or decline to normal growth. Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, we have put people and life first and immediately formulated a series of policies and measures to ensure an overall victory in the battle against the virus, including issuing a total of 5.3 trillion yuan in special emergency credit bonds and completing relevant insurance payments of more than 500 million yuan. By the end of 2020, outstanding RMB loans rose by 19.6 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, and we extended the repayment of principal and interest on loans of 6.6 trillion yuan in total. Emergency loans of 24.27 billion yuan were issued in five pilot provinces and cities. We have achieved the target of making interest concessions of 1.5 trillion yuan to boost the real economy throughout the year. Our actions have strongly supported the resumption of work and production, helping to ensure stability on the six fronts (employment, finance, foreign trade, inbound investment, domestic investment, and market expectations), and maintain security in the six areas (jobs, daily living needs, food and energy, industrial and supply chains, the interests of market players, and the smooth functioning of grassroots government). Manufacturing loans increased by 2.2 trillion yuan throughout the year, exceeding the total of the previous five years; 5.7 trillion yuan flowed into private enterprises, up 1.5 trillion yuan over the previous year; and health insurance spending stood at 292.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.2%. We have kept 1.57 trillion yuan as long-term health protection reserves stashed away against future risks. We also actively helped win the battle against poverty. Over the past three years, a total of 9.2 trillion yuan of targeted poverty alleviation loans have been issued nationwide, and a total of 3.5 trillion yuan has been provided via agricultural poverty alleviation insurance. We have actively participated in the battle against pollution, and the green credit balance of 21 major banks stood at 11.5 trillion yuan by the end of 2020.
