Dai Xianglong, the governor of the People's Bank of China, said at today's symposium that the PBOC, China's central bank, would implement effective monetery policies in the near future to secure more loans from commercial banks to the small and medium enterprises throughout the country.

Dai urged that the state-owned commercial banks set up departments reserved for the small and medium enterprises' crediting and loaning services to bolster their developments.

He underscored that the private companies, especially small ones, deserve more support from the commercial banks.

Preferential loan policies is also likely to be enjoyed if the commercial banks on the municipal level are willing to offer loans to private enterprises.

"The PBOC will grant deeper discounts to these commercial banks if they ask for loans on behalf of the small and medium enterprises," Dai said.

These banks will be able to go one step further and decide their own interest rates for loans to different companies as long as they conform to the central directives, Dai added.

For those high-stake but promising small enterprises who want a large sum, the banks can risk contracting but with a much higher interest rate charge of no more than 30 percent.

Since the financing problem that Chinese companies meet is also popular in many other countries, Dai said a more systemetic and unified action was imperative. A biannual plenary meeting system will be established to gather bankers and company owners twice a year for feasable policy making and down-to-earth feedbacks.

(Eastday.com 03/30/2001)