IRF

What IRF does

IRF (普惠农牧融资担保有限公司, Puhui Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd.) is the dedicated rural financial guarantee business division of New Hope Liuhe Co., Ltd. (Shenzhen Stock Exchange: 000876), one of China's largest agribusiness conglomerates. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Jinan, Shandong Province, the company specializes in providing financing guarantees to livestock farmers and breeders — primarily in poultry, pig, cattle, sheep, and aquaculture — who lack the traditional collateral (land use rights, property) required by Chinese commercial banks. As of November 2024, IRF operates through 5 independent legal entities (4 in Shandong, 1 in Sichuan), 28 regional offices, and 31 business assessment units spanning 29 provinces, with a headcount of approximately 282 employees (85% holding bachelor's degrees or above, average age 30).

The company operates a "multi-in-one" closed-loop financing model in which guaranteed funds are channeled exclusively to vetted upstream suppliers within the New Hope Liuhe supply chain — feed mills, breeding companies, slaughterhouses, and cold storage facilities — which serves as the primary risk-control mechanism. Its technology stack comprises a proprietary custom-built business management system designed specifically for guarantee operations and an independent risk-control system; the company has additionally obtained direct access to the People's Bank of China second-generation credit reporting system (activated November 2024). The product portfolio includes 23 products across 6 categories, principally working-capital guarantees (rates 6.5-9.9‰ monthly) and fixed-asset/equipment guarantees (rates 9-10‰ monthly), with loan sizes from 100,000 to 10,000,000 RMB and an average household loan of approximately 270,000 RMB.

IRF generates revenue through guarantee fees charged on loans originated through 23 cooperative banking partners — including all six major state-owned Chinese banks — with combined credit facilities of approximately 101 billion RMB, of which 77% support online lending. Cumulative guarantees exceed 540 billion RMB across 180,000+ households since 2007, with 59.11 billion RMB disbursed in 2024 alone. The company holds an AA+ credit rating from a third-party rating agency and has been recognized by the Shandong Provincial Government, the Ministry of Agriculture (as a pilot unit for financial support to agriculture in 2019, receiving 980,000 RMB in subsidies), CCTV, and the Financial Times / World Bank (2013 Sustainable Finance Award nomination). Customer concentration sits almost entirely within the New Hope Liuhe livestock value chain, which provides structural distribution advantage but also creates vertical exposure to livestock-sector cycles.

Name

IRF

Website

https://puhuichina.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

IRF (Puhui Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd.) is the rural financial guarantee arm of New Hope Liuhe (SHE: 000876), providing financing guarantees to livestock farmers and breeders across 29 Chinese provinces through 23 banking partners, operating a closed-loop capital model tied to New Hope's feed, breeding, and processing supply chain.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Financing Guarantee

NAICS

Other Insurance Funds (52519), Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Surety Insurance (6351), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Sector & Blended Finance Arms (IFC-type) (BPADACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Development Finance & Blended Finance Facilities (BPADAOAD)

Keywords

• Rural financing guarantee
• Agricultural loan guarantee
• Livestock breeding finance
• Supply chain financing
• Fixed asset guarantee

Headquarters

HQ city

Jinan

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Guarantee Fee Income: Generates revenue through guarantee fees charged on loans provided to livestock farmers and breeders. Fees vary by product category, ranging from 6.5‰ to 10‰ monthly rates depending on the guarantee type such as deposit guarantees, distribution guarantees, direct supply guarantees, aquatic products, and other categories including supplier financing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

IRF provides financing guarantee services that enable livestock farmers, breeders, and agricultural supply chain participants to access bank loans they could not obtain independently. Its core offerings comprise Working Capital Financing Guarantees (流动资金融资担保) for breeding operations and Fixed Asset Financing Guarantees (固定资产融资担保) for equipment purchases, supported by 23 specialized product variants across six categories including deposit-type, distribution-type, direct supply-type, equipment-type, aquatic products, and supplier financing. The company deploys field teams across 29 Chinese provinces to underwrite guarantees ranging from 100,000 to 10,000,000 RMB, with an average household loan size of approximately 270,000 RMB.

Product overview

IRF operates as a rural financial guarantee platform under New Hope Liuhe (深交所000876), offering financing guarantee services for the agricultural and livestock supply chain. The product portfolio includes two core offerings: 流动资金融资担保 (Working Capital Financing Guarantee) for operational capital needs and 固定资产融资担保 (Fixed Asset Financing Guarantee) for equipment purchases. These are supported by specialized product modules including 押金类, 经销类, 直供类, 水产, 预混料, and 设备类 products totaling 23 product varieties across 6 major categories. The company also offers innovative products like 食品押金贷, 电子商票业务, 工程类担保, 履约担保, and 保函业务. The business model follows a 'multi-integrated' approach where funds are directed to feed mills, breeding companies, cold storage facilities, and other supply chain partners within a closed-loop system.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Working Capital Financing Guarantee (流动资金融资担保) Provides bank financing guarantee services for farmers and aquaculture operators to meet working capital needs for breeding production and operational activities, targeting farmers who lack traditional collateral to qualify for bank loans directly.
• Fixed Asset Financing Guarantee (固定资产融资担保) Provides bank financing guarantee services for breeding customers' fixed asset investment needs, covering equipment purchases such as poultry and pig farm equipment with amounts ranging from 100,000 to 5,000,000 RMB.
• Food Deposit Loan Guarantee (食品押金贷) A new guarantee product developed by IRF to address practical market needs that emerged rapidly, providing financing guarantees adapted to changing food and agricultural market conditions.
• Electronic Commercial Paper Business (电子商票业务) A new guarantee-backed business line leveraging IRF's bank financing channels to enhance product competitiveness through electronic commercial paper instruments.
• Engineering Guarantee — Performance Guarantee and Letter of Guarantee (工程类担保/履约担保/保函业务) A bundle of innovative guarantee products including performance guarantees ensuring contract performance obligations and bank letter of guarantee services for engineering and various business needs, representing IRF's diversification beyond traditional agriculture financing.
• Deposit-type Guarantee Products (押金类担保产品) — Chicken, Duck, Pig Contract Deposits Guarantee products for customers needing to pay deposits for contract farming of chickens, ducks, and pigs, enabling breeding households to meet anchor-company deposit requirements in order to start contract production cycles.
• Distribution-type Guarantee Products (经销类担保产品) — Feed and Meat Product Distributors Guarantee products for distributors of breeding materials (feed, chicks) and downstream meat and dairy product dealers requiring working capital guarantees tied to inventory turnover cycles.
• Direct Supply-type Guarantee Products (直供类担保产品) — Poultry, Piglets, Fattening Pigs, Aquatic, Layers, Meat Sheep, Dairy Cattle Guarantee products tailored for farmers raising a range of livestock including poultry, piglets, fattening pigs, aquatic products, laying hens, meat sheep, dairy cattle, and specialty livestock at varied cycle lengths.
• Equipment-type Guarantee Products (设备类担保产品) — Large-scale Farm Equipment Financing Guarantee products for large-scale poultry, pig, and rental equipment purchases supporting farm expansion and reproduction, with longer tenors and batch repayment aligned to equipment depreciation cycles.

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Zhonghe Nongxin (中和农信): A leading rural microfinance and small-loan company in China focused on smallholders and rural SMEs. Comparable as a specialized rural credit provider, though operating via direct lending rather than guarantee intermediation.
• China Investment & Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. (中投保): One of China's largest state-backed financing guarantee companies, providing loan guarantees, performance bonds, and letter-of-guarantee services across multiple industries. Directly comparable as a multi-product guarantee institution with bank partnerships and government-linked credit standing.
• Hanhua Guarantee (瀚华担保): A leading privately-controlled financing guarantee group in China offering loan guarantees, performance guarantees, and surety bonds to SMEs and individuals. Comparable in business model (fee-based guarantee intermediary with bank partnerships) and customer base (underserved borrowers without traditional collateral).

Broad incumbents

• Ant Group (蚂蚁集团) - Rural Finance: Operates one of China's largest digital rural finance platforms through Ant Credit Pay and Ant Chain supply chain finance products serving farmers and rural SMEs. Comparable in targeting rural credit gaps, but with vastly broader fintech capabilities, larger balance sheet, and a tech-platform business model versus Puhui's guarantee intermediation.
• Agricultural Bank of China (中国农业银行) - Rural Finance Division: One of Puhui's actual cooperative banking partners, ABC is China's largest agricultural lender with deep rural branch coverage. Comparable as a primary agricultural credit provider, though as a depository bank rather than a guarantee intermediary, and at vastly larger scale.
• JD Technology (京东科技) - Agricultural Finance: E-commerce-linked agricultural supply chain finance arm of JD.com, providing financing to farmers and upstream suppliers within JD's agricultural ecosystem. Comparable in supply-chain-anchored rural finance model, but operates as a digital platform leveraging JD's retail rather than as a guarantee intermediary.

Regional players

• Anhui Agricultural Credit Guarantee (安徽省农业信贷担保): A provincial government-backed agricultural financing guarantee institution under China's national agricultural credit guarantee system. Comparable in focusing exclusively on agricultural loan guarantees and serving smallholder farmers, but operates regionally and with full government backing versus Puhui's private/parent-anchored model.
• Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (上海农商银行): A regional rural-focused commercial bank providing agricultural loans and supply chain finance in the Yangtze River Delta. Comparable in serving rural SMEs and farmers, but as a depository institution with its own balance sheet rather than as a guarantee intermediary.

Emerging players

• Yixin Group (易鑫集团): A Chinese auto financing platform that connects consumers with bank lenders through a guarantee-and-tech-enabled model. Comparable in operating a tech-enabled credit intermediation/guarantee platform with bank partnerships, though focused on consumer auto financing rather than agricultural production loans.

Others

• Zhonglu Insurance (中路保险): An actual partner insurance company of Puhui Guarantee providing risk coverage on guaranteed loan customers. Comparable as an insurance/guarantee ecosystem participant serving similar agricultural and SME borrower segments, though as a pure insurance carrier rather than a guarantee intermediary.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IRF