"The Inauguration of Bank Card Service Tailored for Rural Migrant Workers in Anhui Province and Press Conference" was held in Hefei on Oct. 12, 2007. Deputy Governor Su Ning of the People's Bank of China and Vice Governor Huang Haisong of Anhui Provincial Government attended and addressed the ceremony respectively. From Oct.12 on, business outlets of rural credit cooperatives (RCCs) in Anhui Province will fully open bank card service tailored for rural migrant workers, involving more than 3,000 business outlets of rural credit cooperatives affiliated with 83 RCCs associations.

Su Ning said, strengthening "Farming-Farmer-Countryside" work and solidly promoting the building of socialist new countryside, was an integral requirement of fully implementing scientific approach to economic development and building a harmonious society, and also a significant task of facilitating the course of socialist modernization. The People's Bank of China (PBC) has always regarded the development of rural financial system a high priority. Facilitating the smooth launching of bank card service tailored for rural migrant workers was an important measure of the PBC in implementing the scientific development approach and contributing to the development of socialist new countryside. It was also an effective way to help rural financial institutions, especially rural credit cooperatives, to speed up financial innovation, improve rural financial services and bring a win-win situation for all parties.

Su Ning said, in accordance with the two preconditions set for launching such a service, i.e. as a large source of migrant workers and with relative advanced development of the comprehensive operating system of the local rural credit cooperatives, the PBC has consecutively launched bank card services tailored for rural migrant workers in 13 provinces and cities, enabling the general migrant rural workers to access convenient, rapid and safe bank card services, which had received warm welcome from migrant rural workers and benefited social and economic developments. The Anhui Provincial Government has attached great importance to the opening of bank card services tailored for rural migrant workers. The PBC Hefei Sub-Branch closely coordinated with the Anhui Association of Rural Credit Cooperatives and Anhui branch of China Union-Pay, made preparations scientifically and comprehensively, and carefully implemented some operational and technological requirements, actively but steadily pushed forward relevant work, so as to ensure the preparatory work for launching of bank card service tailored for rural migrant workers could be completed in a relatively short period of time.

Vice Governor Huang Haisong said, Anhui was a big agricultural province, and also a big migrant rural workers source province. In 2006, there were 10.4 million migrant rural workers, of which 7.8 million crossed provincial borders to work in other places. Migrant rural workers of the whole province earned nearly 120 billion yuan in 2006. Launching bank card service tailored for migrant rural workers was a significant innovative project: firstly, it was a swift response to the calls from the CPC central committee to build a harmonious society and provide convenient and accessible financial services to migrant rural workers, and a reflection of important thoughts of "serving the interest of the public and governing for the people"; secondly, the vast network of RCCs business outlets in Anhui Province could be utilized to provide high quality and convenient services to migrant rural workers, promoting further development of the bank card industry; thirdly, payment and settlement environment in the rural area was improved to facilitate remittance services; fourthly, it was a boost to financial development in Anhui province and help promote local economic prosperity.

Leaders from the PBC head office and its branches at various levels, relevant departments of Anhui People's Provincial Government, China Union Pay and financial institutions located in Anhui Province attended the inauguration ceremony.