Shou Xiaoli:

Thank you both for your introductions. Now the floor is open for questions. Please identify the news outlet you work for before asking your question. 

CCTV:

My questions are concerning the vitality of business entities. In order to invigorate business entities, this year's government work report came up with an array of arrangements. What concrete measures have been taken to provide convenient financing services for business entities? And what specific results have been achieved so far? Thank you. 

Zhu Hexin:

Thank you for your questions. They are good ones. Financial institutions and financial policies all aim to serve the real economy and the healthy development of business entities. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that the financial sector should insist on its fundamental purpose of supporting the real economy. To examine the effectiveness of financial support for the real economy, we should understand how convenient it is to access financial services and how satisfied business entities are with the services. Operating in China's super large economy, business entities should better leverage the domestic and international markets and resources. Since the beginning of this year, the PBC and SAFE have earnestly implemented the decisions and arrangements of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council, insisted on serving the real economy as the fundamental purpose, and focused on improving convenience of services for business entities, making efforts and achieving remarkable results in the following aspects: 

First, streamlining government administration, delegating power and continuing to improve the business environment. We made headway in optimizing approval procedures, reformed 10 items related to enterprise business licenses, amended regulations and normative documents, and implemented the notification and commitment system for certain administrative approval items. We improved services regarding changes to basic accounts and cancellation of bank accounts, and promoted one-stop government services. Also, we further improved government transparency and emphasized the need to fully listen to the ideas of business entities while collecting suggestions for policy making. 

Second, focusing on private and micro, small and medium enterprises and clearing the way for channeling funds into the real economy. In terms of loans, we fully exerted the roles of refinancing, rediscounts and instruments that support inclusive loans to micro and small businesses. We guided financial institutions to increase loans to private and micro, small and medium enterprises to reduce their financing costs. Related data was introduced in the opening remarks. In general, the growth of loans to private businesses and micro and small businesses were both noticeably higher than the average growth of all kinds of loans. In terms of debts, we removed obstacles so enterprises can issue bonds for financing smoothly, and more corporate bonds were issued. In the first quarter of this year, more than 3.65 trillion yuan of debenture bonds were issued, up 3.5% year on year. As of the end of March, instruments supporting private enterprises in bond financing had supported 143 private businesses in issuing more than 251.5 billion yuan of bonds. There are large numbers of micro and small businesses and private enterprises, and they use a lot of bills. In this regard, we optimized the bill business and related functions to help enterprises accelerate capital turnover and ease the pressure caused by invested funds. In the first quarter, more than 144,000 micro, small and medium enterprises issued bills, accounting for 93.2% of all enterprises that issued bills; and 169,000 micro, small and medium enterprises went through bills discounted transactions, accounting for 96.5% of all enterprises conducting such transactions. 

Zhu Hexin:

Third, integrating efforts in both domestic and foreign currencies, and facilitating cross-border trade and investment. Cross-border RMB transactions continue to become more convenient. We have introduced a range of supportive policies for cross-border RMB transactions, including initiatives to stabilize foreign trade and investment, foster innovative offshore trade practices, facilitate new forms of foreign trade, and digitize capital account transactions. At the same time, we are advancing pilot projects for integrated domestic and foreign currency fund pools in an orderly manner. In the first quarter, nearly 30% of China's cross-border settlements for goods trade were conducted in RMB. For four consecutive months, the RMB has held its position as the fourth global payment currency. Notably, data from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT) indicates a further increase in the share of RMB, reaching nearly 4.7%.

Measures aimed at easing foreign exchange transactions have yielded significant results. Specifically, they involve optimizing the processing of foreign exchange receipts and payments in trade. We guide prudent and compliant banks to provide more convenience for high-quality enterprises regarding their forex receipts and payments in trade. In the first quarter, transactions totaling over $300 billion were facilitated through streamlined procedures. Recently, we have introduced six policy measures to enhance the registration and management of foreign trade enterprise directories and simplify trade-related receipts and payments procedures for companies operating within special customs supervision zones. Notably, the registration and management of directories of enterprises involved in trade-related forex receipts and payments, previously requiring the approval from SAFE, are now handled by banks directly, further optimizing foreign exchange procedures for foreign trade enterprises. According to our tally, more than 100,000 business entities are set to be benefited.

We have enhanced the pilot programs for advancing high-quality openness in cross-border trade and investment. Based on the insights gained from previous pilot projects in four regions, we have broadened the scope to include Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong (including Shenzhen), Beijing, Zhejiang (including Ningbo) and the entirety of Hainan province. This expansion is aimed at further streamlining foreign exchange receipts and payments, reducing administrative burdens, cutting paperwork, lowering costs and boosting efficiency for businesses. In the first quarter, transactions totaling nearly $80 billion were processed under the pilot initiative.

We have supported the development of new formats and models in trade. Banks and payment institutions are encouraged to process trade settlements based on electronic transaction information from new business models like cross-border e-commerce. In the first quarter, a total of 230 million related transactions were processed, involving over 1.2 million small and micro businesses.

We have conducted reforms in bank forex business in an orderly manner. This involved redesigning forex business procedures in banks, resulting in a 50%-75% average time reduction in facilitated forex transactions.

Furthermore, we have strengthened promotion of the concept of exchange rate risk neutrality and updated the guidelines for enterprise exchange rate risk management. We have supported enterprises, especially micro, small and medium enterprises, in managing exchange rate risks more effectively. In the first quarter, the proportion of forex derivative transactions in bank-client transactions reached nearly 30%, representing an increase of 3.9 percentage points from the previous year.

Next, the PBC and SAFE will continue raising the quality and standards of financial services. We will intensify policy evaluation and follow-up efforts to ensure that our policies are effective. Our aim is to assess the impact of various policies during implementation, ensuring that they truly empower businesses, enhance their competitiveness, and ultimately guarantee that the policies are translated into action to benefit enterprises and individuals and fully unleash the innate drive and vitality of diverse business entities, supporting high-quality economic development. Thank you.