Special bank credits totalling 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 bn) will be granted to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in East China's Zhejiang Province for expansion, according to the SME Bureau of the province.
The Hangzhou Branch of China Minsheng Bank and the SME Bureau recently signed an agreement to grant special loans over three years to 1,000 SMEs that have potential for further development.
Under the agreement, there will be 300 beneficiaries in 2004, a further 300 in 2005 and 400 in 2006. The top 100 SMEs with the greatest potential for expansion will be on the list of beneficiaries.
The 1,000 enterprises will be chosen from among 1.08 million SMEs in Zhejiang. They should be of high credit rating, creativity and social benefits.
Zhejiang is one of the developed provinces in China's eastern coast region. SMEs contributed 49.15 per cent of Zhejiang's gross domestic product (GDP) of 920 billion yuan (US$111 billion) in 2003.
