The central government has earmarked 3 billion yuan (US$375
million) this year to help the development of small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), said Vice Minister of Finance Zhu
Zhigang.
The minister told a national SMEs working conference that
between 2006 and 2010, his ministry was considering adopting
preferential tax policy toward the SMEs and create favorable
conditions for them in raising funds.
He said the ministry would guarantee that the SMEs get certain
proportion of government procurement during the country's 11th Five-Year Plan period (2006-2010) .
"The move aims to help curb market monopoly by big enterprises
and encourage fair competition," he said.
He noted that big enterprises are in a superior position in
competition, while the government should give appropriate support
to the SMEs that were in an inferior position in access to capital
and technology.
The SMEs, a great contributor to China's economic growth, have
created huge job opportunities and technology advancement.
(Xinhua News Agency October 2, 2006)