Kunming city in Yunnan province plans to support 7,500 local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2015, according to the city’s association of industry and commerce.

SMEs in Kunming can apply for 30,000-yuan ($4,840) financial aid from the municipal government and loans up to 100,000 yuan, Wang Chunyan, vice mayor of the city, announced.

As stipulated by the supporting policies, SMEs founded after April 1, 2014 can apply for newly unveiled financial aid scheme. In order to be qualified for the financial support, the enterprises are required to have invested more than 100,000 yuan and provided more than five job opportunities.

The industry types qualified for financial aid are also specified. Enterprises specializing in technological innovation, software development, creative design, commerce circulation, technology consulting, ethnic and folk crafts and service trade can apply for the financial aid.

As of early April 2015, Kunming association of industry and commerce has received 1,739 applications and processed more than a half of them.

The city is going to further simplify the procedures by building an online application platform. A monthly supervision system is in place to effectively supervise the decision-making process to cut the waiting period.

Edited by Mevlut Katik