Shenzhen has increased financing guarantee services at relatively low rates to shore up support for small and micro-sized businesses, an official from the municipal State-owned assets supervision and management commission said at a press conference yesterday.
Ren Ping, deputy head of the commission, said that policies on municipal State-owned financial enterprises enhancing financing guarantee support and reduction of rent for State-owned assets have been announced.
Preliminary estimates show that the city’s government-backed financing guarantee institutions will provide rates for small and micro-sized firms at less than 1%, the lowest in the guarantee industry nationwide, according to Ren.
The policies are expected to deliver over 15 billion yuan (US$2.35 billion) in financial assistance to upwards of 1,000 small and micro-sized businesses, as well as approximately 77 million yuan in fee reductions.
Ren said the city’s government-backed financing guarantee institutions have been guided to reduce or scrap mortgage and counter-guarantee restrictions, with guarantee rates slashed by up to 40%.
The commission also continues to press municipal State-owned financial institutions to develop new products and services, provide stable fund support and low-interest entrepreneurship guarantee loans for medium, small and micro-sized firms, and open up green channels for industrial chain financing and intellectual property securitization products to help businesses cut financing costs.
According to Ren, Shenzhen will exempt three months’ rents and halve rents for another three months for small and micro-sized firms in the service and manufacturing industries, as well as self-employed businesses, who rent premises solely invested, wholly owned or majority-held by municipal State-owned enterprises.
Rents for private kindergartens will be exempted for three months, said Ren, who added that the measures are projected to benefit 22,700 tenants according to preliminary estimates.
Municipal State-owned enterprises have also played a vital role in the city’s epidemic prevention and control efforts, putting up every effort to provide stable supplies of food, water, electricity and gas, as well as garbage disposal, according to Ren.