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The China Construction Bank (CCB) and the government of Zhejiang province signed an agreement here Monday for the CCB to provide loans of 50 billion yuan (US$6 billion) for medium and small businesses in Zhejiang over the next three years.
As a coastal province in east China, Zhejiang has experienced rapid economic growth in recent years. By the end of 2001, the number of medium and small businesses had reached 674,000, or 99 percent of all its enterprises. Their total profits reached 68.6 billion yuan (about US$8.3 billion), over half the province's revenue.
A CCB spokesman said the bank had beefed up its support for medium to small businesses in recent years. Statistics showed that94.4 percent of the CCB's 292,000 credit clients were such businesses with loans of fewer than 10 million yuan (US$1.21 million).
According to the agreement, the Zhejiang provincial government will strive to build a credit system in the province, formulate industrial guidelines for medium and small business development inline with the state's policies, and will encourage the establishment of various foundations to support the development of such businesses.
(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2002)
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