Corporate Development and Rural Finance of Inland Fishery and the Synthetic Textile Industry in South Jiangsu Province : Jiang Village Follow-Up Study (9)

The target of this study is Kaixiamgong village, which is located in a coastal area. Kaixiamgong village was once a model for the development of village companies in the Sunan area and its industrialization has been progressing mainly in the synthetic textile industry after the conversion into private companies. On the other hand, regarding the primary industry, the intensive agriculture that combined rice farming and sericulture has almost disappeared as it has been replaced by a cooperative inland fishery conducted by some farmers who engage in Chinese mitten crab cultivation. Although the rural finance in this kind of cooperative development is very important, few specific studies have been conducted on this matter. Our study clarified that the inland fishermen basically use their own private funds, a high proportion of which is used to pay for feed. The fishermen strongly depend on credit sales at feed stores as well as on interest-free loans from their relatives and friends in an emergency. In the synthetic textile industry, bank loans with real estate mortgages are common, but the risk is relatively high when relying on private lending with high interest rates; thus, there are cases of bankruptcy. Although a financial system corresponding to corporate development has been established in this way, it still lags behind compared to urban corporate finance, and it can be difficult to raise funds