"Innovation" and "diversification" are perhaps the most frequently used words in China these days, especially when government officials and economists talk about financing for the country's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
With the government's help, SMEs should explore new financing channels and optimize their capital structures, government officials and economists suggest.
And, at the very least, SMEs must not pin their hopes on listing in domestic A-share markets, they added.
Xia Bin, director of the State Council Development Research Centre's finance institute, said that numerous methods of financing, other than stock listings, could be used by cash-strapped firms.
Methods such as factoring, venture capital, debt issuance or financial leasing are other options.
But such diverse financing channels will be reliant on the government's support and the maturity of China's market economy, Xia said.
