China devotes more efforts to promote SMEs
( 2003-12-29 23:34) (Xinhua)
The Chinese government has made greater efforts to promote the growth of
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by offering training and credit
guarantees over the past year.
According to a seminar held by the State Development and Reform Commission
(SDRC) and the Economic and Financial Committee of the National People's
Congress (NPC) here Monday, China has improved the policy environment for SMEs
since the SME promotion law was promulgated one year ago.
An SDRC official said the commission will continue to help improve relevant
laws and regulations and improve services for the SMEs.
The central government allocated special funds for the development of SMEs
this year. The government offered management training for more than 20,000 SME
owners, set up a credit rating system for over 4,000 SMEs in five major cities
and helped nearly 10,000 SMEs in six major cities to start business.
So far this year, the credit guarantee system for SMEs has kept improving. By
June 30, China had established nearly 1,000 credit guarantee organizations for
SMEs. As a result, the SMEs receiving credit guarantees increased employment by
580,000 and sales revenue by more than 110 billion yuan (over 13 billion US
dollars).
The SDRC has been working in cooperation with commercial banks to provide
loans for SMEs in some cities.
The vast majority of the SMEs in China are privately owned. SDRC statistics show
that by the end of 2002, China had a total of 2.43 million private firms and
23.77 million owner operated businesses, offering 81.5 million or about one third
of the total jobs in urban areas. In 2001, non-government sectors made up one
third of China's gross domestic product (GDP) and 45 per cent of the total
capital investment.
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