XI'AN, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Sunday called for improvement in China's rural financial system to better support the development of agriculture, farmers and the countryside.

The rapid and sustained growth in the country's rural economy has provided opportunities for rural financial development and also demands higher requirements for financial services, Wang told a meeting on rural financing during his inspection tour in the northwest China province.

Despite that China had shifted to a prudent monetary policy from a moderately loose one, Wang said there should be no reduction to agriculture-related loans to meet agricultural demands in the first year of the country's 12th Five-Year Program (2011-2015).

The development of agriculture, farmers and the countryside has always been a top task for the government and the Communist Party of China, he added.

China's rural financial system is "generally weak", and all rural financial institutions should work to improve their services and expand their networks, while avoiding unnecessary financial risks, he said.