SMEs to get help with expansion

China will bolster support for small and medium-sized enterprises as they expand overseas for raw materials, sales and research and development, an official with the country's industrial regulator said on Friday.

Ma Xianghui, head of the bureau of SMEs under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said at a news briefing that the authority will ramp up efforts to encourage SMEs to tap into the global market and promote their brands, technologies, sales and services.

To help them explore the global market, the ministry will support them by establishing various domestic demonstration centers for their products and technologies, he said.

They will also be encouraged to make full use of cross-border online transaction platforms and cross-border e-commerce for overseas market expansions, he said, adding that the ministry will also work with relevant departments to carry out a special campaign aimed at supporting SMEs involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

China has already set up an SME center in Berlin, which is devoted to providing professional services to such businesses from China. More similar centers will be set up in countries and regions where conditions are met, Ma said.

As part of the country's efforts to boost the development of SMEs, a guideline was rolled out last week by the general offices of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council.

Wang Jiangping, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said at the news briefing that the guideline showed the importance the country has attached to the development of smaller businesses.

Under the guideline, the country will remove all sorts of unreasonable barriers and restrictions and create a level playing field for SMEs, which contributed more than 50 percent of China's tax revenues and more than 80 percent of urban employment.

Wang said the ministry will continue to solve the difficulties and high costs of financing for SMEs. It will sign cooperative agreements with banks to boost lending and reduce financing costs, he said.

More will also be done to enable more businesses to obtain financing in the capital market, with a mechanism to be established dedicated to helping more SMEs become listed companies, he said.

SMEs will also receive support in using the internet and cloud-computing technologies, he said.