A bank employee (right) inspects a tech firm in Changsha, Hunan province. LIN DAOHUI/FOR CHINA DAILY
China's financial regulator is shifting the focus of its approach to small-business lending away from aggressive loan growth targets toward higher-quality and more sustainable credit support that better aligns with the real financing needs of micro and small enterprises as well as the broader economy.
The National Financial Regulatory Administration recently issued a notice calling for efforts to promote financial services for such enterprises by "stabilizing credit supply, optimizing credit structure, improving quality and ensuring sustainability".
Previously, China's banking and insurance regulator had set core requirements for small business financing that focused on increasing loan volumes, including ensuring that the growth rate of loans to micro and small enterprises was no lower than the average growth rate of all loans.
Dong Ximiao, deputy director of the Shanghai Institution for Finance and Development, said the financial regulator is no longer imposing a nationwide rigid assessment target for loan growth rates. Instead, it now emphasizes reasonably determining the scale of inclusive loans to micro and small enterprises, prioritizing effective quality improvement before quantitative growth, and truthfully and accurately reflecting the quality of credit assets.
