Shanghai guideline issued on financial support to stabilize investment

Shanghai's municipal financial regulator announced on Wednesday a guideline to provide more substantial financial support in the hope of stabilizing investment from home and abroad, as well as better helping companies resuming production.

The guideline is the first document released in Shanghai under the local coordination mechanism that the Financial Stability and Development Committee under the State Council initiated in mid-January. The local coordination mechanism was established to strengthen the cooperation between central and local financial regulators in terms of supervision, risk management, information sharing and the protection of consumer rights.

According to the new guideline, banks should help small and micro-sized enterprises transform their already existing inclusive loans into credit loans before the due date so that these small businesses can recover production sooner. Meanwhile, to better implement the additional 1 trillion yuan ($141 billion) in rediscount policies that the central bank announced in early April, banks in Shanghai should look for new clients so that more companies will benefit, the guideline said.

To ensure the proceeding of key projects in the city, financial bodies in Shanghai should help with issuing and underwriting local government bonds and project bonds. Meanwhile, futures companies are encouraged to introduce derivatives, such as over-the-counter options, so that companies can better manage their raw material risks and stabilize production.

For key industries such as integrated circuits, biomedicine and artificial intelligence, companies are encouraged to issue corporate bonds to enrich financing, the guideline said.