China to improve financial support for small firms

BEIJING - The Chinese central bank governor has said that the country will enhance support for small and micro-sized enterprises with better policy coordination.

Monetary, fiscal and supervisory policies should be coordinated to raise the willingness of financial institutions to support small companies, said governor Yi Gang in a statement released Wednesday by the People's Bank of China.

The country should treat state-owned companies and private companies equally in terms of financial policies, including lending and bond issuance policies, Yi said at a meeting with commercial banks and companies.

"[China] should capitalize on the functions of a socialist market economy, and provide higher quality financial services to private firms and small and micro-sized firms through market competition," he added.

Meanwhile, the financial system should build a sustainable business model to serve small companies and enhance risk prevention, with an accurate understanding of the facts of a short average life cycle, difficulties in getting loans for the first time, and high-risk premiums, the governor said.

Companies at the meeting mentioned problems including difficulties in getting financing and high financing costs, which have been chronic problems haunting their development.

The country has taken measures to enhance support for those companies by further improving financing services and alleviating operational burdens.