China Banks Should Increase Lending To SMEs, Difficult Areas

Banks must achieve the goal of lending to more SMEs at a faster pace this year, and further tilt credit resources to areas severely affected by the epidemic, the China Securities Journal reported citing a meeting by China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission. Large state-owned banks should ensure an additional CNY1.6 trillion of inclusive loans to small business throughout the year, the meeting said. Banks are still reluctant to lend to SMEs that lack collateral, guarantees and other data, the newspaper said citing Liang Si, a researcher at Bank of China Research Institute.