Small business loans up in China
(22 April 2016 – China) The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) has said bank loans to small businesses grew in the last month.
Small business loans in China rose by 14.5 percent year on year to 18.75 trillion yuan (A$3.6 trillion) at the end of March, up 0.6 percentage points from the end of 2015, according to the PBOC.
Comparatively, the increase was two percentage points higher than large businesses, and five percentage points higher than the growth rates of loans received by mid-sized businesses over the same period.
The loans to small businesses accounted for nearly a third of the country’s total commercial loans as of the end of March, up 0.6 percentage points from the same period last year, the PBOC said.
The central bank said the increased loan figures are part of the government’s policyto support such firms to bolster jobs and growth. Authorities have encouraged Chinese banks to support the development of small businesses, which have historically found it difficult to access financing.
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