Source: Reporter Sun Tingyang and Guo Jiyao from China Economic Weekly | Beijing Report
Manufacturing is the foundation of a country and the basis of a strong nation. At present, the pace of new industrialization in China is accelerating, and cooperation between industry and finance is also exploring new avenues.
According to data provided by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, since its launch, the National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform has accumulated over 340000 registered enterprises and nearly 3000 financial institutions, helping enterprises raise over 1 trillion yuan in financing; 66 cities across the country have launched pilot programs for industrial and financial cooperation, continuously exploring innovative practices in financial reform; We have established 17 regional equity markets with specialized, refined, unique, and new boards, launched a monthly investment and financing roadshow for specialized, refined, unique, and new small and medium-sized enterprises, and facilitated an intended financing amount of over 100 billion yuan
Behind these data, a large number of industrial enterprises have received timely and rainy financial support, enabling them to make great strides in technology research and development, equipment updates, market expansion, and other aspects, accelerating the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and providing fertile soil for the vigorous development of emerging industrialization.
Tao Qing, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and director of the Operations Monitoring and Coordination Bureau, introduced the progress and achievements of China's domestic financial cooperation at a recent press conference held by the State Council Information Office, saying that all parties have joined hands with financial institutions to support the new industrialization. The financial institutions cooperating with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology cover various types such as banks, insurance, and funds. In response to the financing needs of manufacturing enterprises, they have innovatively launched a number of characteristic financial products such as specialized and refined new loans, technology achievement transformation loans, and industrial digital transfer loans, as well as various financial combination models such as "pilot insurance+R&D loans". We have established 17 regional equity market "specialized, refined, unique, and new" specialized boards. Carry out the "One Chain, One Policy, One Batch" financing promotion action for small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the expansion of inclusive finance coverage.
Under the guidance of policies, financial vitality is accelerating its flow to key areas. The central bank stated in the "2024 Third Quarter China Monetary Policy Implementation Report" that in the past five years, the balance of medium and long-term loans in high-tech manufacturing has maintained an average annual growth rate of over 30%; The loan approval rate for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises has increased from 14% to 47%.
Promoting new industrialization is a complex system engineering, which is both a tough battle and a protracted one. At present, what successful experiences have been gained from the cooperation between industry and finance in multiple areas? How are various regions continuing to make efforts and actively innovate? What are the new possibilities for industry finance cooperation to empower new industrialization in the future?
The national industry finance cooperation platform helps enterprises break through trillion yuan in financing and achieve rapid growth
The National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform is one of the important tools for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other departments to innovate and carry out industry finance cooperation.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, as of October 18th this year, the national industry finance cooperation platform has received 345800 high-quality enterprises and 2965 financial institutions, helping enterprises raise 1001.865 billion yuan in financing. The proportion of medium and long-term loans in the manufacturing industry is 64.11%, which is 0.17 percentage points lower than the latest benchmark interest rate announced by the central bank.
Compared with a year and a half ago, the number of high-quality enterprises, financial and investment institutions, and financing assistance companies included in the national industry finance cooperation platform has increased by about 100%.
The relevant person in charge of the Finance Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology introduced that since the beginning of this year, the platform has helped enterprises increase financing by nearly 290 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of over 40%.
Continuously supporting the integration of technology industry and finance
Deepen the cooperation between industry and finance, expand the implementation of the 'Technology Industry Financial Integration' special project, promote a virtuous cycle of technology industry finance, guide and encourage more financial resources to support key areas such as technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, green development, and small and medium-sized enterprises. "Jin Zhuanglong, Secretary of the Party Group and Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, pointed out in an article titled" Accelerating the Development of New Quality Productivity and Deepening the Promotion of New Industrialization "published in the" Qiushi "magazine in June this year.
The industry generally believes that the industry finance cooperation model is an important way to achieve mutual benefits and win-win outcomes among the government, banks, and enterprises. By integrating industrial and financial policies, strengthening information sharing, and optimizing resource allocation, we can not only promote effective alignment between financial resources and corporate financing needs, but also drive innovation in financial products and services, providing strong support for the healthy interaction between industry and finance.
He Yang, Deputy Director of the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, introduced to the reporter of China Economic Weekly that the National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform is a non-profit public service platform, mainly used to gather financial resources, connect industry finance information, help enterprises raise funds, and provide comprehensive services such as policy guidance, financing docking, consulting and training, intelligent evaluation, etc. for enterprises and financial institutions.
The reporter of China Economic Weekly saw from the interface of the national industry finance cooperation platform that the interface of the platform is mainly industry finance cooperation, including industry finance docking services, industry finance pilot cities, industry finance cooperation ecology and industry finance capability improvement and other columns. It has set up 24 special zones, including advanced manufacturing clusters, civil aircraft, ships, software, 5G, industrial Internet, and industrial green development.
24 special zones provide customized financial products for enterprises and provide precise services to key areas of enterprises. "He Yang introduced that the platform also continues to support the implementation of special policies such as" integration of technology industry finance ", technology innovation and technological transformation refinancing, and stable supply chain, supporting the high-quality development of key industrial chains, digital transformation of manufacturing industry, gradient cultivation of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises, and industrial technology innovation.
At the press conference of the State Council Information Office in January this year, Xin Guobin, member of the Party Group and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced the next key tasks and measures - to continue to promote the implementation and effectiveness of the "14th Five Year Plan" for industrial green development, continuously enhance the green content of new industrialization, and continuously polish the ecological background. Fully leverage the role of the national industry finance cooperation platform and actively create green consumption scenarios in areas such as new energy vehicles and green home appliances.
In May of this year, the National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform celebrated its third anniversary and officially released its ten major series of achievements. The platform's ten key docking industries are integrated circuits, new energy vehicle devices and accessories, intelligent manufacturing equipment, petrochemical and chemical industry, new electronic components, biomedicine and medical equipment, artificial intelligence, cutting-edge new materials, 5G+industrial Internet and aerospace. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's (6.530, 0.04, 0.62%) "Business Fast Loan" and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank's (9.580, 0.05, 0.52%) "Puxin Loan" products are among the top ten financial products that help enterprises with financing.
Significant improvement in corporate financing efficiency
When introducing the convenience brought by the National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform to enterprises, He Yang said that the platform has developed three core functional architectures of "finding, evaluating, and promoting", forming three types of industry finance docking models: enterprise active docking, financial active docking, and intelligent matching docking. Enterprises can quickly fill in financing demand information such as loan term, interest rate, and loan category on the platform. The platform will automatically match corresponding financial products and connect with financial institutions. "On average, financial institutions will contact enterprises within 3 days," He Yang said.
A platform operation model has been preliminarily explored for industry finance cooperation. He Yang introduced that the operation mode of the National Industry Finance Cooperation Platform can facilitate the channel of industry finance information docking, promote the online management of industry finance cooperation policies and public services, intelligent data analysis and information docking, capacity building and multi-party cooperation ecology. After more than three years of operation, the platform has become an important channel for enterprises and financial institutions to cooperate and implement, and an important platform for coordinating industrial policies and financial policies.
Exploring Industry Finance Cooperation Across Regions to Empower New Industrialization
According to statistics, 66 cities across the country have launched pilot projects for industry finance cooperation, continuously optimizing the financing environment and industry finance ecology, and emerging 72 innovative experiences. Among them, Mianyang City in Sichuan Province has formed the "accounts receivable financing Changhong model" through supply chain core enterprises leading the chain from point to point; The Xiamen Local Financial Supervision and Administration Bureau takes the lead in establishing the Xiamen First Loan Renewal Service Center, promoting the "increment, price reduction, quality improvement, and expansion" of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises within its jurisdiction.
On July 5th this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and three other departments announced the "Third Batch of National Pilot Cities for Industry Finance Cooperation", with Mianyang in Sichuan and Xiamen in Fujian both selected.
What attempts have these two cities made in empowering new industrialization through industry finance cooperation? How does efficient financing bring more new possibilities for the development of enterprises?
In the past, when money was needed, one had to seek a bank loan. Bank loans required collateral and the process was cumbersome, taking a relatively long time from start to finish. "The person in charge of Mianyang Jindi Trading Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as" Jindi Company ") has a deep understanding of" difficult and slow financing ".
Once the loan cannot be disbursed and the funding chain breaks, it will directly affect the survival and development of the enterprise, "said the person in charge of Jindi Company.
The change occurred after Jindi Company joined Changhong Supply Chain Financing Platform. It is reported that as a steel and metal material supplier of Changhong Holdings Group (hereinafter referred to as "Changhong"), Jindi Company trades with Changhong for about 15 million yuan in goods annually, and has prepared 10 million yuan of working capital for this platform. Nowadays, when companies need financing, they can submit funding applications through the platform, and the funds can be received in as little as 10 minutes.
Under the Changhong supply chain financing model, on chain enterprises such as Jindi Company can obtain financing funds on the same day of application without leaving their homes or providing any financing information. Moreover, the enterprise can borrow as much as it needs, avoiding capital accumulation. As of now, Changhong's supply chain financing model has provided over 5 billion yuan in financing to more than 2500 small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial chain.
What kind of model is it that makes financing for small and medium-sized enterprises so simple? How can enterprises and financial institutions achieve mutual trust in loans, and how do both parties connect information?
This is inseparable from the "mutual trust platform" built by core enterprises in the supply chain. The relevant staff of Changhong Group told China Economic Weekly that the Changhong CHiM industrial Internet platform built by Changhong Group focuses on the optimization of business inventory turnover, the improvement of production and manufacturing efficiency, the integration of supply chain resources, large-scale flexible production and other application scenarios, runs through the whole process of research and development, supply chain, production manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, and product extension services. Thanks to the powerful "online connection" function, Changhong launched the supply chain financing service model, and built the Changhong supply chain online financial service platform by taking advantage of the "cloud".
Yi Suqin, the Minister of Finance of Changhong Group, told China Economic Weekly that Changhong's supply chain financing model utilizes years of data accumulation from Changhong's supply chain connected financial service platform to publicly disclose continuous transaction information between supply chain enterprises and Changhong's core enterprises to banks, granting credit to Changhong's on chain suppliers, and "bundling" Changhong credit and supplier credit to achieve credit appreciation for small and medium-sized suppliers. Financial institutions will then allocate credit funds to suppliers and Changhong, which will play a huge role in the development and growth of Changhong and its business partners, achieving two-way flow to financial institutions and supply chain customers.
Under this model of industry finance interaction, suppliers have financing needs, core enterprises have guarantees, financial institutions have financial security, and the supply chain becomes a "win-win chain".
In the early stages of implementing the Changhong supply chain model, it faced a common challenge of new things - trust issues. According to Yi Suqin, with the support of the Mianyang Municipal Government, Changhong has effectively solved many problems in the financing process of small and medium-sized enterprises, such as difficulty in verifying the authenticity of commodity transactions, difficulty in confirming the rights of debtors, and information asymmetry, based on the "cloud technology+online" financing model. Through the deep participation of core enterprises, Changhong has reduced loan risks. For example, by automatically controlling the entire financing process through the system, including proactive clearing of accounts, automatic change of actual payee information, and automatic payment prompts upon maturity, risks such as duplicate financing and false financing of accounts receivable have been avoided, and internal controls have been strengthened
In addition to the accounts receivable financing Changhong model, Mianyang has also innovatively launched the "Equipment and Instrument Loan". As of October this year, the "Equipment and Instrument Loan" has provided a total of 270 million yuan in loans to more than 80 enterprises.
Xiamen: Providing "face-to-face" and "hands-on" services for first loan renewal
The Xiamen First Loan Renewal Service Center, relying on the Xiamen Xinyi Loan platform, has achieved online service and set up offline service points in the municipal government service center, providing efficient first loan renewal financial services for enterprises through dedicated windows and personnel.
"Not all business owners are proficient in Internet operations, and the offline services provided by special window staff can improve the accuracy and efficiency of enterprise applications." When interviewed by China Economic Weekly, the relevant person in charge of the Finance Office of the Xiamen Municipal Party Committee said that when enterprises apply for loans on the Internet, they may have questions about the application process, required materials, policy details, etc. Offline service center staff can communicate face-to-face with business owners, teach them how to operate step by step, accurately answer questions, and ensure that the enterprise is clear about every link and requirement. In addition, the offline service center is an official physical platform that can increase the trust of enterprises in the loan process. Some business owners, especially some older entrepreneurs who are unfamiliar with Internet operations, may prefer offline business. Offline service centers can provide convenient services for this group of people, ensuring that they can smoothly obtain loan support.
Jimei District and Huli District of Xiamen City have successively opened first loan renewal service centers and set up offline windows to be closer to enterprises. The district level service centers are often set up near other government service windows, which can introduce loan services to enterprises in a timely manner and help expand the number of first-time borrowers, "the person in charge summarized.
It is reported that as of the end of October this year, the Xiamen First Loan Renewal Service Center has accumulated a total of 1603 first loan renewal financing orders for small and micro enterprises in the city, totaling 4.4 billion yuan, and successfully granted 550 loans totaling 1.341 billion yuan; Among them, there were 582 financing orders from first-time borrowers totaling 2.3 billion yuan, and 237 successful credit lines totaling 815 million yuan.
Xiamen Zhiqiu Technology Co., Ltd. focuses on the research and development, production, and sales of LED lighting products, and is a national high-tech enterprise. The general manager of the company, Shen Zhiqiu, introduced that previously, the company did not have the energy to seek bank loans and did not quite understand the loan process. After learning about the Xiamen First Loan Renewal Service Center, they took advantage of the center's advantages and successfully obtained an unsecured loan of 580000 yuan from the bank based solely on their good credit record.
Shen Zhiqiu stated that this funding support based on credit rather than traditional collateral methods is of great help to the company.
Xiamen has also established a special credit enhancement sub fund for first-time loan renewals, providing "risk compensation" and "interest subsidy matching" for eligible loan businesses. It can provide up to 10 million yuan of interest subsidy support for small and micro enterprises, leveraging 1 billion yuan of credit enhancement loans.
Xiamen has achieved the full online process of the first loan renewal special credit enhancement sub fund loan filing, interest subsidy application, and other links, and has issued interest subsidies through the "no application, enjoy" method to enhance the sense of gain for enterprises. The above-mentioned person in charge introduced, "The fund quota is cyclically used, that is, after the enterprise settles the loan, the corresponding quota will be released for continued use by enterprises in need, achieving continuous operation
The promotion of new industrialization requires the empowerment of industry finance cooperation, "said the person in charge. For enterprises in the process of new industrialization and just starting out, first loan services can help them obtain start-up capital. Enterprises usually need to continuously invest funds in technological upgrades, product improvements, and market expansion. Stable loan renewal support can prevent enterprises from interrupting their development process due to cash flow issues, help them continuously expand production scale, improve production efficiency, and enhance market competitiveness.
Banks and industry funds actively promote industry finance cooperation
Industry finance cooperation requires improving the efficiency and level of financial services, and banks and industry funds are important driving forces.
Some listed banks disclosed the loan growth of strategic emerging industries and technology enterprises in their semi annual reports this year.
Among the six major state-owned commercial banks, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's strategic emerging industries increased by nearly 400 billion yuan at the end of the first half of this year compared to the end of the previous year. Agricultural Bank of China (5.040, 0.00, 0.00%) increased by 25% compared to the end of the previous year, and Bank of Communications (7.500, 0.01, 0.13%) saw a 5.89% increase in loans compared to the end of the previous year; The loan balance for technology-based enterprises of Construction Bank (8.480, 0.00, 0.00%) increased by 12.31% compared to the previous year. Bank of China (5.260, 0.03, 0.57%) provided a total of RMB 1.71 trillion in credit support to 83500 technology-based enterprises. Postal Savings Bank of China (5.420, -0.01, -0.18%) served nearly 80000 technology-based enterprises, and the financing balance increased by more than 40% year-on-year. Among joint-stock banks, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank served over 64000 technology-based enterprises by the end of the first half of 2024, with a balance of technology finance loans exceeding 550 billion yuan; At the end of the first half of the year, the balance of technology finance loans of China CITIC Bank (6.720, -0.05, -0.74%) increased by 4.19% compared to the end of the previous year.
Recently, some banks shared their cases in the field of industry finance cooperation with China Economic Weekly.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China supports technological transformation, while Shanghai Pudong Development Bank innovates with "pilot loans"
The relevant person in charge of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China introduced to the reporter of China Economic Weekly the loan for the technology renovation and equipment update project pushed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Foshan Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. specializes in the production of core components for building materials and equipment. In order to enhance production capacity, improve manufacturing quality, and build core competitiveness, the enterprise plans to invest in the construction of an intelligent and digital manufacturing base for core components of building materials and equipment. The "Digital Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Transformation Project" has been included in the first batch of recommended industrial equipment renewal loans by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
After learning about the situation, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Guangdong Branch utilized the central bank's technology transformation and equipment update policies to provide comprehensive financial service solutions for enterprises throughout the entire process in a timely manner. On June 27th of this year, a loan of 6.55 million yuan was successfully disbursed.
The relevant person in charge of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank stated in an interview with China Economic Weekly that they hope to become the preferred partner bank for science and technology innovation enterprises. The bank has innovatively launched the "Puke" product matrix with "5+7+X" as its core, actively providing financial support for high-tech, high investment, and long-term industries. Puchuangdai achieves precise drip irrigation of financial vitality to early-stage technology enterprises; PuTouDai achieves small loans, early loans, and technological breakthroughs through a loan+external direct investment model; Puxin Loan focuses on five types of qualified enterprises and dynamically adapts to the growth of technology enterprises; Puyan Loan, Puke Mergers and Acquisitions Loan, and other services provide key scientific and technological innovation achievements transformation, technological breakthroughs, product research and development, and mergers and acquisitions for technology enterprises.
The pilot stage, as a crucial link in the transition of technological achievements from the laboratory to the production line, requires a significant investment in research and development funds. Due to factors such as small business scale, high uncertainty in technology and market demand, light assets, and high risks, traditional investment and financing methods are difficult to intervene. In response, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has made innovations.
The first "pilot loan" for technology-based enterprises in Shaanxi Province has recently landed. Datong Gonghe (Xi'an) Technology Co., Ltd. has received 5 million yuan in funding support from the Xi'an branch of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. "Although the enterprise has passed the pilot stage, it has not yet obtained relevant production qualifications, and multiple production lines are still under construction, requiring a large amount of working capital support," said the company's relevant person in charge. "After evaluating and testing the enterprise's technological attributes and research and development stage, the Shanghai Pudong Development Bank system accurately calculated the limit, and the company completed the withdrawal operation on the same day through mobile banking
A relevant person from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank told reporters that the bank is currently providing full chain support for R&D enterprises from the laboratory to the experimental stage of industrialization through an innovative "enterprise technology achievement transformation financing plan" and an innovative cooperation model of "enterprise owned+government subsidies+bank financing".
Industrial investment funds from various regions support new industrialization
Since the beginning of this year, information about industrial investment funds supporting new industrialization has been continuously circulating across the country.
On October 22nd, the Shandong Province New Industrialization Development Fund was officially released at the "2024 Industrial Investment and Financing Conference". The fund has a scale of 5 billion yuan and plans to build a new industrialization parent subsidiary fund group with a total scale of 20 billion yuan in Shandong Province, providing comprehensive value-added services of "capital+finance+technology+incubation+policy" for new industrialization projects in Shandong Province, promoting the high-end, intelligent, green, and clustered development of Shandong's industry.
More than a month ago, on September 5th, the Financial Office of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee successfully held the "2024 Liaoning Industry Investment Integration Development Conference". This conference actively builds a platform for capital and industry exchange and cooperation, gathers top domestic venture capital institutions to share opportunities for revitalization and development, and works together to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.
At the conference, the industrial investment fund established in Liaoning Province achieved multiple innovations within the province, including the establishment of the first provincial-level parent fund operating on market-oriented principles, the first overseas limited partner (QFLP) fund, and the first market-oriented equity investment fund with bank participation. The Liaoning Industrial and Commercial Bank Shengjing Fund was officially signed at the conference.
The fund is fully owned by Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, with 60% subscribed by ICBC Financial Asset Investment Co., Ltd., and 40% subscribed by Liaoning Fund, Shengjing Financial Holding, and others. The first batch of reserve projects selected by the fund include Shenyang Micro Control Flywheel Technology Co., Ltd., Shenyang Xinsong Robot (20.690, 0.30, 1.47%) Automation Co., Ltd., Liaoning Zhonglan Electronic Technology Co., Ltd., and Shenyang Xinji Development Co., Ltd.
There is a lot of work to be done from having ideas to coordinating the establishment of this fund, "Xu Jihua, a member of the Financial Work Committee of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee, told China Economic Weekly reporters. Liaoning is an important industrial base in China with a complete range of industrial categories and a complete system. Many excellent industrial projects are likely to grow and expand if empowered by equity investment. Xu Jihua and others went to relevant departments such as the State Administration of Financial Supervision, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to understand the policies and investment intentions of these institutions. They also coordinated with key departments such as the Liaoning Provincial Department of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission, communicated with institutions such as Liaoning Financial Holding and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Liaoning Branch, and formed a preliminary willingness to cooperate.
Good projects are necessary to attract capital, "said Xu Jihua. Du Zhuo, Deputy Director of the Financial Office of the Liaoning Provincial Party Committee and Director of the Provincial Local Financial Bureau, led relevant staff to conduct research on companies such as Shenyang Xinsong Robotics and Dalian Rongke Energy Storage in Shenyang and Dalian, forming a project library for the selection of proposed funds and ultimately promoting the landing of funds in Liaoning. The fund will enter the substantive investment and operation stage. We need to continue to play a bridging role between the government, enterprises, and financial institutions, coordinate various forces, and ensure the smooth implementation of investment fund business, "he said.
Currently, various regions are actively laying out their strategies. In June of this year, the "Selection Criteria and Application Guidelines for New Industrialization Development Fund Projects in Guizhou Province (Trial)" were released, which clearly stated that enterprises involved in industries designated by the Guizhou Provincial Party Committee and Government for the development of new industrialization are given priority support.
In May of this year, the "Yinchuan New Industrialization Guidance Fund Establishment Plan" was officially issued, with a total scale of 1 billion yuan, focusing on investing in Yinchuan's advantageous industries such as new materials, new food processing, new energy, equipment manufacturing, as well as high growth strategic emerging industries such as integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, and robots.
Actively addressing the difficulties and high costs of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises
The difficulty and high cost of financing for small and medium-sized enterprises are global challenges. In 2021, the People's Bank of China's Research on Improving the Financing System of Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises believes that the problem of difficult and expensive financing for small, medium and micro enterprises is long-term and inevitable.
The "Report on Financing Development of Small and Medium sized Enterprises in China in the First Half of 2024" released by the China Enterprise Development Research Center, a national high-end think tank of Xinhua News Agency, selected a sample of 10.27 million small and medium-sized enterprises covering different industries for statistics. As of the end of June 2024, the financing stock scale of the sample enterprises increased by 12.9% year-on-year and 5.74% month on month in the first half of the year. The scale of financing continues to grow, thanks to the optimization of policy environment, innovation in financial markets, and the strengthening of the development needs of enterprises themselves.
The report also suggests that the sample companies are highly concerned about daily operations, and the proportion of daily operating funds has remained at a very high level, almost close to 95% of total funds, while investment in asset investment, marketing, and research and development is relatively insufficient.
It is worth noting that positive signals are emerging.
On September 23 this year, the relevant person in charge of the People's Bank of China stated at a press conference on the overall progress and effectiveness of the "Two New" policies that the financing needs of enterprises in equipment updates are mainly met by bank loans, and the People's Bank of China provides support through re lending policy tools. Since the implementation of the policy, 70% of the funds have supported small and medium-sized enterprises. In April this year, the central bank, together with the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments, established a technology innovation and technological transformation refinancing loan with a scale of 500 billion yuan and an interest rate of 1.75%. Among them, a quota of 100 billion yuan will be arranged to support the "first loan" of technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises in the start-up and growth stages; Arrange a special quota of 400 billion yuan to support equipment updates and technological transformation projects in key areas, and emphasize priority support for relevant projects applied by small and medium-sized enterprises.
In the past five years, the loan approval rate for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises has increased from 14% to 47%. "The central bank disclosed in the" 2024 Third Quarter China Monetary Policy Implementation Report "that regulatory authorities incentivize and guide financial institutions to provide credit support to technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as digital, intelligent, high-end, and green technology transformation and equipment renewal projects in key areas. At the end of September, the balances of technology innovation refinancing and equipment renovation special refinancing were 86.5 billion yuan and 155.7 billion yuan, respectively.
The central bank also stated that in the next stage, it will deepen the structural reform of the financial supply side, guide financial capital to invest early, small, long-term, and hard technology, and promote the healthy and sustainable development of technology finance. Increase credit support for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises.
Some regions are also actively improving financial services for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The proportion of technological innovation and R&D investment in enterprises is constantly increasing, "said a person in charge of the Xiamen Municipal Financial Office. The Xiamen First Loan Renewal Service Center found through analysis of backend data that in the past year, the financing funds of enterprises that have financed in the center have mainly been used for daily operations, equipment updates and iterations, technological upgrades, and R&D investment. After enterprises realize the importance of technological innovation, the demand for financing for technology research and development and innovation continues to increase. Enterprises hope to improve product quality, reduce costs, and expand market share through technological upgrades.