China Development Bank steps up financing support for small firms

BEIJING - China Development Bank (CDB), a development financial institution, has worked with smaller financial institutions to boost loan support to small businesses and the agriculture sector as the government aims to guide more funds to those areas.

In the first eight months, the CDB promised to transfer 73 billion yuan ($10.3 billion) of loans to small and micro firms as well as the agriculture sector, according to a report by Shanghai Securities News.

In August alone, the bank issued 21.1 billion yuan in loans, benefiting some 21,000 small and micro-sized companies.

China has been stepping up efforts to improve financing efficiency for the real economy, with targeted measures to expand financing channels and reduce financing costs for small and micro firms.

Data from the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission showed inclusive loans to small and micro firms rose 26.5 percent year-on-year in the first seven months of 2019, while their overall financing costs dropped by more than one percentage point.