Reform Accelerates: Multiple Rural Credit Cooperatives at Provincial Level Seek Talent

Securities Daily reporter Huang Yu-lin

Since this year, agricultural credit reform has accelerated. As of now, rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level in Henan, Inner Mongolia, Jiangsu, and Jiangxi have all established and begun operations. A total of 10 new provincial-level institutions have emerged from agricultural credit reform.

Talent is essential for development. Recently, multiple rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level in Zhejiang, Liaoning, Hainan, and Jiangxi have all released recruitment notices, seeking high-level talent with backgrounds in finance, technology, and company finance.

Industry insiders point out that as local rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level gradually prepare to take shape, their operational status will shift from "tentative operation" to "perfect governance". This means that the talent pool, particularly in financial technology, urgently needs to be supplemented and reserved to enhance differentiated services, digitalized risk control, and other abilities. It is expected that market-oriented recruitment of high-level talent will become a new trend in the future.

Multiple Banks Release Recruitment Notices

On July 30th, Zhejiang Agricultural and Commercial Bank released an announcement stating that it would recruit system internal agricultural and commercial bank managers across the entire province. The specific positions to be filled include one vice president of Tonglu Agricultural and Commercial Bank, one vice president of Jiaxing Agricultural and Commercial Bank, and one vice president of Longyou Agricultural and Commercial Bank.

Zhejiang Agricultural and Commercial Bank was established in April 2022, following the reorganization of Zhejiang Province's rural credit cooperatives. It is the first single entity to emerge from agricultural credit reform nationwide, adopting a "down-stream" equity structure.

Recently, Liaoning Agricultural and Commercial Bank has also released recruitment notices for total branch and provincial-level management personnel. A total of 19 people will be recruited, including eight mid-level managers covering the financial market department, planning finance department, credit approval department, human resources department, and information technology department.

In June, Hainan Agricultural and Commercial Bank released recruitment notices involving information technology risk management, retail financial line models, and other areas. In May, Jiangxi Agricultural and Commercial Bank also released recruitment notices for professional technical positions, tax planning positions, information technology positions, and customer manager positions.

Fintech Talent Demand High

As of now, rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level in Zhejiang, Liaoning, Shanxi, Henan, Sichuan, Guangxi, Hainan, Jiangxi, and Jiangsu have all established and begun operations. The results of agricultural credit reform are being seen across the country.

Among them, Liaoning Agricultural and Commercial Bank, Henan Agricultural and Commercial Bank, Hainan Agricultural and Commercial Bank, and Inner Mongolia Agricultural and Commercial Bank are all single entities, while Zhejiang Rural and Commercial United Bank, Shanxi Rural and Commercial United Bank, Sichuan Rural and Commercial United Bank, Guangxi Rural and Commercial United Bank, Jiangxi Rural and Commercial United Bank, and Jiangsu Rural and Commercial United Bank are all union banks.

Securities Daily reporter Huang Yu-lin points out that whether it is a single entity or a union bank, the newly established rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level have recently been accelerating recruitment efforts. Many institutions have also explicitly expressed their need for fintech talent.

Dong Xi-ming, research fellow and vice director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Experimental Laboratory, said in an interview with Securities Daily that there are three main reasons why newly established rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level have a greater demand for fintech talent. Firstly, the industry is undergoing digital transformation, which requires more fintech talent; secondly, the financial technology personnel reserve in the agricultural credit system is weak compared to national banks, so it needs to "fill the gap" after reform; thirdly, the newly established rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level require high-level technology services to enhance their comprehensive financial services capabilities.

Shu Hong-yan, special research fellow of Su Cheng-hua Bank, pointed out that the talent strategy of newly established rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level is mainly focused on digitalization and professionalism, with fintech talent in high demand. It has formed a "high-level leadership + basic expansion" dual-track framework. On the one hand, high-level technical management positions such as chief information officer (CIO) and senior professionals with experience in large financial institutions will be recruited; on the other hand, basic technology positions will see significant expansion, with some institutions' campus recruitment involving fintech positions accounting for nearly 40% of total recruits, with salaries significantly higher than those of management trainees.

Market-oriented Recruitment Will Increase

Industry insiders point out that aside from fintech talent, rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level are also increasing their demand for professional skills and high-level management talent.

Dong Xi-ming believes that fintech talent, professional skills talent, and experienced senior management talent will be in high demand. Previously, agricultural credit institutions relied heavily on internal development and recruitment, but these three types of talent are harder to cultivate internally and require more time. He expects that after reform, rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level will increasingly rely on social recruitment, with market-oriented recruitment of high-level talent expected to become a new trend in the future.

Shu Hong-yan also believes that market-oriented recruitment of high-level talent is likely to become a new trend for rural credit cooperatives at the provincial level. He said that in recent years, newly established agricultural and commercial banks have recruited core high-level talent through social recruitment, primarily based on four aspects of practical needs. Firstly, there is a policy-driven focus; secondly, there is pressure from reform timelines, with rural credit cooperatives often having only six months to establish their core teams after reform; thirdly, they need to fill gaps in transformation capabilities; and finally, social recruitment is also necessary to break through regional isolation, introduce new management ideas and resources integration abilities, and respond to the complex demands of national banks' downward competition and "digital countryside" construction.