Guangdong Looks to Streamline SME Financing Procedures

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) are to have improved access to finance, thanks to a range of measures introduced by the Guangdong Provincial Administration for Local Financial Regulation and four other departments.

Announced in the Circular of Guangdong Province on Some Policies and Measures for Supporting SME Financing (Yue Jin Jian No. 58 [2019]) on 5 July, the new arrangements are intended to boost the capacity of the GBA’s financial sector, while also streamlining the process and lowering the cost of securing finance for SMEs.

Among the 22 measures prioritised are the following:

• Establishing an SME credit rating system to address the issue of ‘information asymmetry’ between banks with loans available and SMEs with good credit scores

• Guiding the financial service sector towards supporting real economic development, while looking to develop the multi-tier capital market system by making indirect financing less dependent on collateral and broadening the direct financing channels open to SMEs

• Improving the way the financial services system interacts with the needs of SMEs

• Making comprehensive use of low-cost funds and a variety of policy tools in order to substantially lower the cost of corporate financing

• Deploying fintech as a way of improving the means by which finance is secured expeditiously

Source: Guangdong Provincial Administration for Local Financial Regulation