Peoples Daily: Let small and medium-sized enterprises truly enjoy policy dividends
Publication time：2022-05-20
In the first quarter, the operating income and profits of small and medium-sized industrial enterprises above designated size increased by 14.1% and 6.5% respectively, fully reflecting the resilience and vitality of small and medium-sized enterprises. Although the new round of epidemic has had a significant impact on the economic operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, we must see that the long-term positive fundamentals of Chinas economy have not changed. "At the State Council Policy Briefing held by the State Council Information Office on the afternoon of May 18th, Xu Xiaolan, Deputy Minister of Industry and Information Technology, said that in response to the new situations and problems faced by the development of small and medium-sized enterprises since the beginning of this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with relevant departments and various regions, has implemented and refined various policies through horizontal coordination among departments and vertical linkage and demonstration guidance between departments and provinces, and made every effort to support the relief and healthy development of small and medium-sized enterprises.
4 aspects and 10 specific measures to help small and medium-sized enterprises overcome difficulties, increase confidence, and promote development
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council attach great importance to relieving difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises. Recently, a series of policy measures have been intensively introduced to strengthen the relief and assistance for small and medium-sized enterprises from multiple aspects, such as implementing combined tax incentives, improving job stability return standards, promoting financing for small and micro enterprises, and reducing property rent. Xu Xiaolan said that at the same time, various regions have taken a series of supporting measures in ensuring smooth logistics, supporting resumption of work and production, reducing operating costs, optimizing assistance services for enterprises, and assisting in market development to help small and medium-sized enterprises overcome difficulties.
Xu Xiaolan introduced that in November last year, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice on further increasing the relief and assistance efforts for small and medium-sized enterprises. On May 9th of this year, the Office of the Leading Group for Promoting the Development of Small and Medium sized Enterprises of the State Council issued the "Several Measures to Strengthen Assistance to Small and Medium sized Enterprises in Relieving Difficulties". While continuing to implement the original relief measures, it also proposed some practical and hard measures from multiple dimensions, mainly including 4 aspects and 10 specific measures:
Firstly, in terms of increasing financial support, we will promote the establishment of special funds for the relief and assistance of small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses in various regions. For small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses that encounter temporary difficulties in production and operation, special funds will be provided to support housing rent, water and electricity fees, guarantee fees, epidemic prevention expenses, loan interest subsidies, and social security subsidies.
Secondly, in terms of alleviating difficulties in financing and repayment, it is clear that large state-owned commercial banks will strive to add 1.6 trillion yuan of inclusive small and micro enterprise loans by 2022; Reasonably support small and medium-sized enterprises and individual businesses affected by the epidemic through loan renewal, loan extension, and adjustment of repayment arrangements; Strengthen government financing guarantees, exchange rate hedging services, and export credit insurance to provide financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises; Carry out special actions to prevent and resolve overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Thirdly, in terms of promoting cost reduction and expanding demand, we encourage localities with conditions to implement phased preferential treatment for small and micro enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households in terms of electricity consumption, and to continuously supply water, electricity, and gas usage, and make up for overdue payments within 6 months; Reduce the average broadband and dedicated line tariffs for small and medium-sized enterprises by another 10%; Promote the resumption of work and production of small and medium-sized enterprises at key nodes in the industrial chain; Strive to expand market demand.
Fourthly, in terms of strengthening service guarantees, we will carry out the "Small and Medium sized Enterprise Service Month" activity and the "Benefit Enterprises Together" small and medium-sized enterprise service action, improve the digital platform for policy services, conduct comprehensive inspections nationwide to reduce the burden on enterprises and promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the effective implementation of policies.
Xu Xiaolan said that the next step is to ensure the implementation of various policies, promote the consolidation of responsibilities of local governments and relevant departments, solve the "bottlenecks" in the process of policy implementation, and most importantly, smooth the "last mile" of policy implementation, striving for "the exemptions that should be exempted, the reductions that should be reduced, and the slowdowns that can be achieved", so that small and medium-sized enterprises can truly enjoy the policy dividends. At the same time, leveraging the role of 703 ******** and over 3800 provincial-level public service demonstration platforms for small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as 392 ********* and over 2600 provincial-level small and micro enterprise entrepreneurship and innovation demonstration bases, mobilizing resources from all aspects to provide policies, management, and technology to small and micro enterprises, helping them understand policies, enjoy policies, boost their confidence in development, and assist them in overcoming difficulties, increasing confidence, and promoting development.
Expand the quantity, stabilize the stock, and provide strong guarantees, contributing financial strength to help enterprises overcome difficulties
The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has put forward several high-value policy measures to assist small and medium-sized enterprises in overcoming difficulties, which can be summarized as the following three aspects, "said Mao Hongjun, head of the Inclusive Finance Department of CBIRC.
One is to increase the amount and maintain incremental credit support for small and micro enterprises. On the basis of the rapid growth of inclusive small and micro enterprise loans in the past few years, guidance has been given to large state-owned banks to maintain their credit lending efforts, requiring an increase of 1.6 trillion yuan in inclusive small and micro enterprise loans this year. Guide the national financing guarantee fund and government financing guarantee institutions to expand their business coverage for small and medium-sized enterprises, and better play the role of credit enhancement guarantee. As of the end of April this year, the balance of loans for small and micro enterprises in China was 53.54 trillion yuan, of which the total amount of loans for inclusive small and micro enterprises was 20.5 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth rate of 21.64%; There are 35.7725 million households with loan balances, an increase of 7.8124 million households year-on-year.
The second is to stabilize the stock and alleviate the loan turnover difficulties of difficult enterprises. In order to help small and micro enterprises overcome difficulties, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission has proposed that banks should reasonably adopt methods such as loan renewal, loan extension, and adjustment of repayment arrangements to support and avoid loan withdrawals and interruptions. For inclusive small and micro enterprise loans that will expire before the end of 2022 in difficult industries within the city level administrative regions designated as medium to high-risk areas in 2022, including catering, retail, culture, tourism, transportation, and manufacturing, banks should adhere to substantive risk assessment when extending loan terms and adjusting repayment arrangements. They should not downgrade loan risk classification solely due to epidemic factors, do not affect credit records, and waive penalty interest.
The third is strong protection to help market entities better cope with risks. Support banks to provide exchange rate hedging services for small and medium-sized enterprises, such as forward foreign exchange settlement and sales, to reduce the impact of exchange rate fluctuations. Further increase the coverage of policy based export credit insurance, reduce short-term insurance rates in a targeted manner, optimize claims conditions, and increase support for small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises. Encourage insurance institutions to enrich the supply of insurance products based on the risk characteristics and insurance needs of small and medium-sized enterprises, such as providing insurance protection for property losses caused by the suspension of work and production due to the epidemic, profit losses caused by business interruption, etc. Actively develop cargo transportation insurance, road cargo transportation carrier liability insurance, etc., to provide risk protection for the logistics industry.
Carry out special actions to increase efforts in clearing overdue accounts of small and medium-sized enterprises
Currently, due to various factors, the downward pressure on Chinas economy has increased, and the problem of overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises is a pain point in the hearts of many small and medium-sized enterprises. "Xu Xiaolan said that the Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to it and have deployed a special action to prevent and resolve overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises nationwide in 2022, focusing on resolving arrears, strictly preventing new arrears, and improving the long-term mechanism for preventing and resolving overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises.
One is to strengthen the investigation of the situation and concentrate efforts to resolve it. By the end of May, all regions and departments should complete a comprehensive investigation and establish a ledger to increase centralized resolution efforts for accounts arrears caused by government agencies, public institutions, and large enterprises purchasing engineering, goods, and services from small and medium-sized enterprises. For undisputed debts, they should be settled together. If there are indeed repayment difficulties, a clear repayment plan and method must be proposed before the end of June. For disputes over outstanding debts, it is necessary to promote negotiation or use legal means to resolve them. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organizes relevant legal institutions to provide public legal services for small and medium-sized enterprises in difficulty.
The second is to strengthen overall coordination and consolidate the main responsibility. Each province should take overall responsibility for preventing and resolving overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises in their respective regions, clarify specific measures and timelines, and complete them within a specified time frame. Relevant industry departments and regulatory agencies should supervise and guide local governments to actively resolve arrears in their respective fields, strengthen supervision and management of the regulated objects, and promptly deal with illegal and irregular behaviors.
The third is to strengthen information disclosure and enhance restraint and punishment. Establish a mechanism for sharing overdue information, strengthen the disclosure of information on large enterprises and large listed companies overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises, and do a good job in disclosing overdue information on commercial bills. This year, the State Council will conduct a comprehensive inspection to reduce the burden on enterprises and promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, focusing on the prevention and resolution of arrears in various places.
The fourth is to strengthen source treatment and improve long-term mechanisms. Strictly implement the Government Investment Regulations, strengthen the approval management of government investment projects and the budget management of government investment funds. For those without confirmed funding sources, construction shall not commence, and it is strictly prohibited to build without approval. It is also strictly prohibited for government investment projects to require enterprises to advance funds for construction in various ways.
The fifth is to strengthen financing support and enhance services for enterprises. Standardize the development of supply chain finance business, leverage the functions of the unified registration and public disclosure system for movable property financing, accounts receivable financing service platform, etc., and further activate accounts receivable through the securitization of accounts receivable assets. Through the "Together Benefit Enterprises" SME Service Action and SME Service Month activities, various regions and relevant institutions are organized to provide legal consultation, legal rights protection and other services for SMEs, helping them strengthen contract management, prevent risks such as overdue accounts receivable, and protect the legitimate rights and interests of SMEs.
Peoples Daily (May 19, 2022, 4th edition)
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