Northwest China's Gansu Province has set up 12 credit promissory agencies to vouch for loans to medium and small enterprises, especially private firms, in the province.
By the end of June this year, the province had 354,700 private businesses, hiring a total of 660,000 people. The business reports a production value of 890 million yuan (US$107.23 million) and a sale value of 8.3 billion yuan (US$1 billion).
At the same time, the province has set up 16,000 private companies with a production value of 1.14 billion yuan (US$137.3 million) and sales value of 2.32 billion yuan (US$279.5 million).
According to a local official, the medium and small enterprises in Gansu need loans totaling two billion yuan (US$240 million) per year.
"But loans to the enterprises is only 200 million yuan (US$24,10 million) per year, 10 percent of the need," the official said. He said the lack of capital has become a bottleneck in their development.
The sticking point for getting sufficient loans is the incomplete credit promissory system.
With a total capital of 600 million yuan (US$72.29 million), the 12 credit promissory agencies have so far provided credit surety for 24 medium and small enterprises, obtaining 126 million yuan (US$15.18 million) in loans.
(Xinhua 11/15/2000)
