Foreign banks see potential in small companies

Foreign banks in China have seen small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as a rising opportunity to take bigger slice of market in the country's financial sector.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank by value, opened a wholly owned rural bank in western China's Chongqing recently that will offer a range of financial services, including deposits, lending and supply chain financing, to local rural enterprises and individuals, especially targeting SMEs.

In China, SMEs have long been neglected by big commercial banks due to their small size compared to powerful and resourceful State-owned counterparts.