（Photo/taizhou.com.cn）

Taizhou is leading the nation in financial services offered to small and micro-enterprises.

As a city where private enterprise accounts for the lion's share of its GDP, Taizhou has rolled out a series of measures to ease financing problems facing small and micro enterprises, some of which have been promoted across the country.

As of the end of October, the total balance of small and micro-enterprise loans in Taizhou was 341.312 billion yuan ($50.94 billion), accounting for 41.02 percent of total loans and exceeding the national and provincial average.

A credit information sharing platform for financial services has been implemented in Taizhou, according to Guo Liya, head of Luqiao Rural Commercial Bank.

The platform collects data related to the business conditions of enterprises from the departments of taxation, public security, and justice. All of the data is made available to banks.

To date, the platform has collected more than 4,000 items of credit information in 118 categories, including electricity consumption, water consumption, tax payment and other important indicators that reflect the business conditions of enterprises.

The platform has greatly reduced the operating costs of banks and slashed the waiting time for lenders, Guo said.

Wang Qufei, head of the Taizhou branch of the People's Bank of China, said that the government should ensure markets play a decisive role in resource allocation but should take the initiative to do what the market cannot do.

A lack of guarantees is a common obstacle to the financing of private and small and micro-enterprises.

To address the problem, the Taizhou government set up credit guarantee funds for private enterprises, small and micro enterprises, farmers and other market entities that lack guarantee sources.

The funds are non-profit and have an annual interest rate of just 0.75 percent, much lower than the market rate of 2 percent, according to Cao Yonghui, general manager of Taizhou credit fund operation center.

In addition, the borrowers won't be charged a deposit or other fees.

In the meantime, proactive measures to prevent and control financial risks have been in place in the city, which is showing strong results.

Official data shows that as of the end of September, the non-performing loan ratio of the banking industry in Taizhou was only 0.75 percent, while the figure for small and micro business loans was only 0.8 percent.

The role of high technology in risk control is becoming increasingly prominent in Taizhou, which increases the sustainability of loans for small and micro-enterprises.

In 2018, the rate of return on capital for Taizhou Bank and Tailong Bank, two major banks in Taizhou, was 28.69 percent and 21.32 percent, respectively.

Cao Guoqun, director of the Taizhou banking and insurance regulatory bureau, revealed that local authorities have also developed a digital financial platform that allows banks and enterprises to find each other online. 

Cao said that more efforts will be made to promote the balanced development of financial services for small and micro enterprises and more local financial institutions including securities and insurance bodies will be mobilized.

Earlier this month, Taizhou has officially designated a national pilot zone for the comprehensive reform of financial services for private enterprises and small and micro-businesses.

Approved by the State Council and five ministries including the Ministry of Finance, the move comes as part of the nation's efforts to direct financial resources toward small and micro-businesses under a market-oriented business climate and reduce the financing cost of the real economy.

Taizhou will receive a fund of 30 million yuan ($4.47 million) from the central government, which will be used to deepen the reform of financial services for private enterprises and small and micro enterprises in the city.

Chen Yijun, Party chief of Taizhou, pledged that the city will strive to become a demonstration zone for small and micro-enterprise financial services nationwide.

Private companies in Taizhou last year accounted for 99.5 percent of the city's total enterprises, contributing 92 percent and 77.5 percent of the city's tax revenue and GDP respectively -- 42 percent and 17 percent higher than the national averages.

(Executive Editor: Yang Wenxi)