Premier Li demands more help on small business financing

BEIJING -- Premier Li Keqiang on Tuesday called for more effort to solve the financing difficulties facing China's small and micro businesses.

In a written instruction to a teleconference held in Beijing, Li called for better financial services for small and micro businesses.

He said more effort should be made to deepen financial reforms and effectively let the market play a decisive role in allocating resources to small and micro businesses.

"An innovative approach should be taken to address the 'last mile' problem of financial resources flowing to small and micro businesses, and more progress should be made in making financing less difficult and less expensive for small and micro businesses," he said.

Vice Premier Ma Kai said at the teleconference that all regions, departments and financial institutions should implement the supportive monetary and fiscal policies for small and micro firms.

Ma also called for improving "the financing guarantee and insurance mechanisms for small and micro businesses, establishing a credit information system for small and micro firms and clearing up unreasonable charges for small and micro businesses in applying for financial services."

China has been working hard to reduce the financing burden on small firms.

On Monday, the Ministry of Finance and State Administration of Taxation jointly announced tax breaks to cut the corporate burden on small and micro businesses.

"From Dec 1, 2017 to Dec 31, 2019, financial institutions will be exempt from VAT on income from interests for loans to small, micro-sized and individually-owned businesses," according to a document jointly released by the ministry and taxation administration.

Currently the policy applies to loans to farmers only.

By the end of June, outstanding loans from financial institutions to small and micro businesses reached 22.6 trillion yuan (about $3.4 trillion), nearly double the amount of 2012, accounting for 32 percent of total loans to all businesses, the statement said.