MNI BRIEF: PBOC Ups SME Support by Enhancing Credit Reporting

The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has strengthened the credit information system for companies to help small businesses obtain alternative lending, including accounts receivables-based financing (ARF), central bank officials told reporters on Monday.

Over CNY2 trillion lending given to SMEs via ARF in 2020, more than doubling the target of CNY800 billion set by the State Council early in the year, said Xie Dan, deputy director of the PBOC Legal Affairs Department. About 60% of SMEs' assets are account receivables and inventory which are not fixed assets that lenders require for loan collaterals, Xie said. The PBOC launched a series of credit information products allowing lenders to access SMEs' credit profiles, said Zhang Zihong, director of Credit Reference Center of the PBOC.

The seven credit reporting institutions helped SMEs get CNY591.5 billion in non-collateral credit loan and SMEs got a averaging 6.99% interest rate with a bad loan ratio of 1.16%, he said. The PBOC will continue to regulate the credit reporting sector and crack down on any illegal moves to conducting credit information business without a license granted by the authorities, Tian Di, vice director of the PBOC Credit Information System Bureau.