CHINA> National
China helps SMEs tide over difficulties
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-12-06 12:33

"Our land is rented. We have no other worthy goods for mortgage. Since we cannot find credit guarantees, we cannot overcome this hurdle, no matter how many rounds the central bank cut interest rates," said Deng.

There are unsecured loan services from some commercial banks, i.e., free of guarantee and mortgage, but the interest rates might stand as high as 20 percent to disperse the risks to banks. "We simply cannot afford it," said Deng.

On Sept. 4, China's State Administration for Industry & Commerce allowed the use of enterprise equities as a pledge in applying for bank loans.

The new document - Measures for Equity Pledge Registration with Administration for Industry and Commerce, which took effect on Oct. 1, provides a new low-cost financing channel for money-hungry SMEs in the country.

According to the document, equities that may be used as pledges are confined to equities in limited liability companies and stock limited companies, excluding equities in stock limited companies already registered with securities registration and clearing organizations, and "equities with problems", that is to say, equities that have been frozen by the court.

Meanwhile, China has built a multi-level credit guarantee system for SMEs. China has established 3,366 credit guarantee institutions for SMEs with an accumulative guarantee fund amounting to 805 billion yuan, said Zheng Xin, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).

These credit guarantee institutions have completed credit evaluation and credit information collection on more than 200,000 SMEs, helping insured enterprises to add sales income totaling 342.5 billion yuan, increase profits and taxes of 26.8 billion yuan, and to offer 1.5 million new employment posts.

PBOC will also propel SME-prone financial innovations to ease the fund shortage of SMEs this year, said Yi Gang, vice governor of the bank recently.