A series of equity investment approvals have been issued in quick succession by the National Financial Regulatory Administration's Guangxi bureau over the past month. The Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture has completed equity investments in six city and county-level rural credit cooperative institutions within the region, utilizing both methods of subscribing to new shares and acquiring existing equity stakes.

Three institutions have been involved through new share subscriptions. According to regulatory approvals this month (June) for the Hezhou Guidong Rural Cooperative Bank and the Pingguo Rural Cooperative Bank regarding their private placements and shareholder qualification plans, these two county-level legal entity institutions are raising 60 million shares and 22 million shares respectively. Post-placement, their total share capital will reach approximately 520.5 million shares and 153.05 million shares respectively. On this basis, the Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture will invest in 60 million shares and approximately 21.33 million shares in these two entities, resulting in shareholding ratios of 11.53% and 13.94%. Last month, the bank received approval to subscribe to 36.65 million shares in the Guiping Rural Credit Cooperative, achieving a 5.87% stake post-subscription.

Through equity transfers, in May, the Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture was approved to acquire 4.08 million shares from one corporate shareholder and ten individual shareholders of the Ziyuan Rural Commercial Bank, resulting in a combined post-transfer holding of 7.31%. This month, the Chongzuo Rural Commercial Bank and the Leye Rural Commercial Bank also received approvals for equity changes. Following these changes, the shareholding ratio of the Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture and its related parties increased to 5.36% and 7.29% respectively. Overall, the reform of the Guangxi rural credit cooperative system continues to adhere to a "one institution, one policy, step-by-step advancement" approach, with the implementation of equity participation across the region gradually expanding.

Nationally, the Guangxi rural credit cooperative system's deep reform plan received early approval. In January 2024, regulators formally approved the establishment of a provincial-level rural commercial bank joint venture based on the original Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Rural Credit Cooperative Union. In February of the same year, the Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture commenced operations in Nanning. According to official disclosures, as of the end of March 2026, the Guangxi rural cooperative system comprised 86 rural cooperative institutions (city and county-level rural cooperative financial institutions), with total assets, deposits, and loan balances reaching approximately 1.4944 trillion yuan, 1.2526 trillion yuan, and 870 billion yuan respectively. After commencing operations, the Guangxi Rural Commercial Bank Joint Venture has progressively advanced its equity investment layout. In 2024, it implemented equity participation pilot programs in 11 legal entity institutions. In 2025, it proceeded with equity participation in 61 city and county rural cooperative institutions in three batches and implemented the unified legal entity reform at the Laibin city level.

Establishing new provincial rural commercial bank joint ventures and forming a "top-down" equity linkage is the mainstream choice in the current round of rural credit cooperative reform. Provincial joint ventures in Shanxi, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Guizhou are also gradually advancing their downward equity participation. In theory, this reform approach can better balance multiple demands: market-based capital replenishment for rural credit institutions at their current stage, strengthening the provincial-level platform to reduce common operational costs for grassroots legal entities, and preserving the operational flexibility of county and city-level legal entities. However, in practice, key challenges remain that require ongoing attention as the reform deepens. These include balancing provincial platform management with empowering county-level legal entity operations, and restructuring the two-level governance framework while enhancing governance efficiency when investing in legal entity institutions.