(Yicai Global) Nov. 19 -- A branch of Agriculture Bank in China’s northeastern Liaoning province has brought out a loan specifically for local journalists.

The loans have a 3.85 percent annual interest rate, the same as the official one-year loan prime rate, China News Services’ Economic View reported today. That is less than the usual 10 percent for credit cards and online small loans and also lower than the personal mortgage rate.

The loans -- aimed at regional members of the press whose employers meet the bank’s entry requirements -- enables applicants to borrow between CNY50,000 and CNY300,000 (USD7,590 to USD45,540).

In recent years, Chinese banks have introduced special loans for teachers and doctors, often with higher quotas and lower interest rates. Agriculture Bank, one of the country’s big four lenders, brought in loans for medical workers with a maximum one-year term during the coronavirus outbreak in the provinces of Henan, Guangdong and Jilin. The interest rate in Henan was 3.99 percent.

Banks are coming up with new products at favorable rates for specific industries, occupations and even businesses, and have opened green channels for review and approval, the report said, citing Dong Ximiao, chief researcher at Merchants Union Consumer Finance.

That is because of the high quality of employees in these industries, who also have better credit profiles and a stable source of income, Dong said, adding that this helps lenders to better control risks.

Such loans to workers in specific industries, mostly up to a maximum CNY300,000 each, pose less, industry insiders said. But the hazard of ‘multi-end credit,’ where a single customer applies for similar loans from two or more banks, should be prevented in light of the lower interest rates, they cautioned.

Some lenders rolled out credit advances for teachers in September, granting up to CNY300,000 at a low 2.88 percent. Many banks also introduced ‘white-collar worker loans’ for staff of state-owned enterprises and public institutions, offering between CNY100,000 to CNY500,000. They usually require borrowers to repay in one year and charge rates often below the benchmark lending rate.

Editor: Peter Thomas