The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said on Friday it
is taking steps to give small business better access to loans.
"Small business is playing an increasingly important role in the
nation's economic development," said Liao Min, deputy director of
the CBRC's general office, at a press briefing in Guangzhou on
Friday.
"But they are still in a weaker position in terms of access to
bank loans compared with large and medium-sized enterprises,
especially the State-owned ones," he said.
Liao said the CBRC has joined with the National Development and
Reform Commission to abolish rules and remove obstacles restricting
small businesses from applying to commercial banks for credit.
It is also improving policies and regulations on loans to small
businesses, and mapping out new policies that reward banks which
give credit to small firms.
"Improving financial services to small businesses and offering
more tailored financial products will be a win-win for both the
small firms and the banks."
Small businesses contribute over one-third of China's gross
domestic product annually and have created jobs for 75 percent of
the urban population and been responsible for 90 percent of new
vacancies since the beginning of the 1990s.
"Small firms generally do not meet credit standards set for
large and medium-sized enterprises; however, randomly lowering
credit standards creates risk for commercial banks," he said.
"Banking institutions need to find a balance between risk and
profit."
Liao said that the CBRC has done much to help the nation's
commercial banks set up comparatively independent credit
processes.
(China Daily September 1, 2007)
