China sees growing inclusive financing for small firms: official

BEIJING - China has provided more targeted inclusive loans to small and micro businesses with lowered interest rates, the country's top banking regulator said on Wednesday.

Over the past four years, the average growth rate of inclusive loans to small and micro enterprises has exceeded 25 percent, and interest rates have been accumulatively reduced by 2 percentage points, Guo Shuqing, chairman of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, told a press conference.

With the accelerated development of innovative financial services such as online insurance and digital credit, the country has seen expanded coverage and more the targeted provision of inclusive loans, Guo said.

In 2021, inclusive loans to small and micro businesses provided by the country's five largest banks increased 41.4 percent, Guo said.

Fully leveraging technological advantages, large and medium-sized banks have also enhanced their capacity to serve remote areas, with a total of 4.7 trillion yuan ($741.9 billion) in risk protection funds provided to over 180 million rural households, Guo said.

By the end of last year, outstanding inclusive loans to small and micro businesses issued by banking institutions had topped 19.1 trillion yuan, surging 24.9 percent year-on-year, according to the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.