The city of Zibo – located in East China's Shandong province – launched a series of measures to improve its financial services at a news conference on Sept 29, committing to the goal of creating a high-quality business environment.
Officials said the Zibo local financial supervision and administration aims to transform the city into a regional financing center for science and technology innovation.
It is understood that Zibo has been juggling the financing difficulties associated with the real economy – especially for micro, small and medium enterprises – and has released a number of initiatives to broaden channels to obtain credit.
At the end of August, the city's loan balance was 416.75 billion yuan ($65.4 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.93 percent.
To precisely determine the financing needs of each company, Zibo has organized 126 financial counseling teams and 369 financial advisors to provide research activities on a quarterly basis.
So far, 1,553 enterprises have responded well to the new financial guidance system. In the first eight months of the year, 378 enterprises met their funding needs of 12.04 billion yuan.
In addition, Zibo is carrying out a financial incentive to help list local companies on stock exchanges – including completing initial public offerings or IPOs, listing them on the new third board and other related initiatives. Zibo has cashed 77.75 million yuan as bonus funds, motivating enterprises to connect with the capital market.
Furthermore, the city is expected to protect the legitimate rights of small and medium investors. It has established the city's first officially operated securities and futures dispute mediation station, featuring 55 professionals from 18 units serving as mediators.
