Su Ning: Pilot bank card service in Guizhou Province
Speech by Mr Su Ning, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, at the Inauguration of Pilot
Bank Card Service tailored for rural migrant workers in Guizhou Province, Guiyang, 29 December
2005.
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Distinguished Guests,
Comrades,
Migrant Farmer Friends,
This ceremony marks the launching of Pilot bank card service in Guizhou tailored for migrant workers
from the countryside. This service, after its inauguration, enables migrant workers to deposit cash on
China Union-Pay bank cards in the place where they work and withdraw money from the rural credit
cooperative service network at their home town. This pilot project provides service to migrant workers
and is made possible by joint efforts of the People's Bank of China and other relevant parties as a
concrete measure to implement the scientific development approach, facilitate coordinated
development of rural and urban China, properly solve problems associated with the development of
rural economy, and build a well-off society; it is an important step to improve the clearing and
settlement environment in rural areas, expand the bank card service system, diversify fund remittance
methods for migrant workers, and enhance the financial services in rural areas. I would like to
congratulate, on behalf of the People's Bank of China (PBC), on the opening of this service in
Guizhou, and express our sincere thanks to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC),
Agricultural Bank of China, China Union-Pay and Guizhou Rural Credit Cooperatives who have
completed operational and technical preparation for the project, and to the PBC Guiyang Sub-Branch
who has organized the project's implementation. Our thanks also go to everyone who has worked hard
for it.
The State Council has attached great importance to rural economy and formulated a series of strategic
plans to solve problems associated with the development of rural economy. The 11th 5-Year Plan
adopted at the 5th Plenum of the 16th CPC Central Committee put forward strategic ideas, objectives
and plans to build a socialist new countryside. The PBC has always regarded rural financial service as
a high priority. In response to the call by the State Council, the PBC has taken active measures to
support structural reform of the rural credit cooperative system, including formulating and
implementing a plan to provide financial support for the reform. In addition, a number of steps have
been taken to diversify clearing and settlement modes for rural credit cooperatives and boost their
payment capacity. The large-value payment system launched on 30 June 2005 and introduced
nationwide has significantly improved the payment methods of rural credit cooperatives and
contributed to providing a level playground for the rural credit cooperatives. This pilot project of bank
card services tailored for migrant workers is another important measure by the PBC to speed up rural
financial infrastructure building and increase competitiveness of rural credit cooperatives.
In recent years, thanks to the efforts of many parties, bank cards have seen rapid development in
China. With issuance increasing significantly, card acceptance environment and payment function
improving continuously, band card has become the most frequently used means of non-cash payment.
But the development has not been evenly distributed among regions; therefore we have always
attached importance to introducing this modern payment instrument to rural areas and enabling
farmers to benefit from it. This pilot project in Guizhou represents a business innovation that offers
migrant workers the convenience of withdrawing their deposit from a different location. It also helps
broaden the business scope of bank card operating institutions such as card issuing banks, rural credit
cooperatives and China Union-Pay Co. Ltd, brings a win-win situation for all and promotes a rapid
development of the industry.
This tailored service effectively offers another way for migrant workers to send money to their home
town. According to statistics, there are more than a hundred million migrant workers in mainland China
that produce fund flow totaling several hundred billion yuan between urban and rural areas each year.
The flow is expected to increase by dozens of billion annually in the future. At the moment, the fund
remittance system is not fully developed for migrant workers as the fund transfer mode is not
diversified and takes a long time. The need of these workers for a convenient, safe and rapid way of
transferring fund is yet to be satisfied and many of them have to personally carry large amount of cash
home. With the opening of tailored bank card service, rural migrant workers can transfer the fund
deposited at their place of work to the rural credit cooperatives at their hometown and withdraw cash
at the rural credit cooperatives with a swipe of card, in a matter of several seconds. This not only
offers a new way of fund transfer, but also helps migrant workers use card more than cash and build a
socialist new countryside.
Comrades,
The pilot project of bank card services tailored for migrant workers is of far-reaching significance. We
should look at this project from the strategic point of serving the people and the economy in the rural
areas and explore, through the project, effective ways and experiences of rural bank card services.
The PBC, as the organizer and coordinator, shall continue to give publicity to the project, monitor and
examine the services; the ICBC and Agricultural Bank of China shall continue to conduct cash
withdrawal business according to the established plan and provide good cash issuing service as well
as security support; the China Union-Pay Co. Ltd. shall provide technical support and related training
to improve the quality of cross-bank service; the rural credit cooperatives in Guizhou shall continue to
seize the good opportunity to improve service, provide a safe transaction environment, and work to
prevent crimes such as fraud and money laundering. The PBC and all other parties will study
problems that come up in the experiment and gradually spread the service to other areas.
I am confident that, with the support of PBC and the Guizhou Provincial Government and the joint
efforts of ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, China Union-Pay Co. Ltd and the Guizhou rural credit
cooperatives, this pilot project will definitely contribute to rural economic development and the building
of a well-off society in the countryside.
Thank you!