Loan support underpins rural forestry in Guangxi

The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has seen a remarkable expansion in its forest-based nontimber economy in the past decade, as it strives to tap its potential in benefiting people economically in areas with rich forest resources.

As of the end of last year, the region's output value for its forest-based non-timber economy had reached 138.8 billion yuan ($19.5 billion), compared with 71.4 billion yuan in 2015, according to the region's forestry bureau.

The economy has benefited more than 12 million forest farmers, increasing their annual income by over 4,000 yuan on average, a release from the bureau said.

It pointed to 2011 as an important year for the development of the forest-based non-timber economy in the region.

The year marked the completion of the reform of the collective forest rights system, it said. Thereafter, the regional authorities underpinned the forest-based non-timber economy as a key measure to address difficulties faced by forest farmers in relying on forest resources for their livelihoods.

This effort represents a proactive step toward "exploring new pathways for achieving prosperity without relying on tree felling", it said.

It said Guangxi's remarkable progress in developing its non-timber forest economy has been driven by a series of measures the region has implemented.

Following the introduction of supportive policies, 358 million yuan in special subsidies have been allocated since 2016, leveraging nearly 900 million yuan in investment into the sector, it said.

It said the region has also introduced a series of innovative financing models, including forest rights mortgage lending, to help forestry entities address funding shortages.

Through a coordinated effort across financial regulatory agencies and departments for agriculture and forestry, a tailored mechanism for guaranteed lending has been established in Guangxi to promote the development of the forest-based nontimber economy, the bureau said.

Under the mechanism, agricultural credit guarantee companies will provide guarantees for enterprises recommended by forestry departments to help them secure bank loans.

To date, over 150 million yuan in loans have been disbursed through this mechanism, according to the bureau.