The cooperative in Funing County, Yunnan empowers the development of the star anise industry with the 'Eight Star Loan'.

In the golden autumn, as you walk into the Zhuang ethnic area of Miao Ling and Yao Mountain Yi Village in Funing County, Yunnan Province, a waft of star anise fragrance greets you, and the endless star anise forests stretch out before your eyes.

Funing County is known as the "Hometown of Star Anise in China," with a history of large-scale star anise cultivation for over 300 years. Currently, there are 692,000 acres of star anise planted, distributed across 13 townships, 130 village committees, 1,845 village groups, serving 66,000 households and a total population of 301,000, covering 79.2% of the county's population. In 2022, the county produced 180,000 tons of star anise fruit, with a value exceeding 2.7 billion yuan, an average household income of about 40,900 yuan, and a per capita income of about 9,000 yuan.

In recent years, Funing County has introduced supportive policies such as the "Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the Star Anise Industry" and the "Work Plan for Creating a Demonstration County for 'One County, One Industry' in Funing County," successfully attracting Yunnan Zhongmu Agricultural and Forestry Development Co., Ltd. to establish an industrial park, implementing an integrated project for the planting, processing, development, and trading of Funing star anise.

As a financial powerhouse serving local economic development, the Funing County Credit Union focuses on the development of the star anise industry under the 'One County, One Industry' initiative, actively taking responsibility by innovating financial products, solidifying chain marketing, and visiting enterprises and farmers extensively, creating a set of financial service 'combinations' that turn star anise trees into trees of wealth and prosperity.

The Funing County Credit Union quickly established a leadership group to promote the development of the star anise industry and innovatively launched the 'Star Anise Loan' for planting, purchasing, and processing star anise. The tailored 'Star Anise Loan' offers personal loan interest rates as low as 3.95% and corporate loan interest rates as low as 3.65%, with high limits, quick processing, and flexible guarantee methods. Once launched, it received widespread attention from enterprises and growers in the star anise industry chain.

Star anise production and processing area, multifunctional trading area, warehousing and logistics area, star anise cultural display area... Entering Yunnan Zhongmu Agricultural and Forestry Development Co., Ltd., the rich aroma of star anise fills the air. Established in April 2022, this private enterprise specializes in efficient ecological agricultural and forestry investment, research and development, planting and processing trade, biological control, landscaping, and ecological agricultural and forestry leisure tourism development. Currently, the company has built a 143-acre seed collection and nursery base, cultivating 377 seed mother plants and 1.2 million star anise seedlings; a 1,200-acre comprehensive technical transformation demonstration base for low-yield star anise forests, and a 6,500-acre standardized ecological planting demonstration base for star anise is currently being prepared for afforestation.

To accurately support the development of leading star anise enterprises, the leadership team of the Funing County Credit Union has visited the company multiple times to understand its business operations and financial service needs in detail. At the same time, they opened a 'green financial service channel' for the company, granting a credit line of 20 million yuan to help the enterprise expand its business scale and strengthen the star anise industry.

"Supporting agriculture, assisting farmers, and serving agriculture" is the original mission of the rural credit cooperatives. The Funing County Credit Union not only vigorously supports the development of leading star anise enterprises but also earnestly practices inclusive finance, providing convenient, fast, and warm financial services to star anise planting farmers and purchasing merchants.

"I am very grateful for the financial assistance from the Funing County Credit Union. When I needed funds the most, I received 200,000 yuan in 'Star Anise Loan' support, which helped cover the fertilizer costs for my star anise forest, solving my urgent problem. This year, the yield is high, and the market is good; I am sure I can sell it at a good price," said Xiong Baojin from the Weiji Village Group of the Funing County Li Village Committee, pointing to the flourishing star anise forest behind him.

The Funing County Credit Union has taken practical actions to help the county's 'local specialty' star anise industry thrive, contributing to the common prosperity path for thousands of households in the county. As of the end of September, the credit union has issued a total of 987 star anise industry loans this year, with 1,737 transactions amounting to 81.95 million yuan, and the outstanding balance of star anise industry loans reached 120 million yuan.