National fund to give smaller companies a helping hand

The Ministry of Finance is expected to launch a national fund with initially registered capital of 66.1 billion yuan ($9.68 billion) soon, to support credit for small and micro companies, agricultural-related businesses and innovative startups.

The ministry recently signed an agreement with 20 institutions to jointly establish the National Financing Guarantee Fund Co Ltd, a quasi-public financial institution to conduct financing guarantee business in the form of equity investment and re-guarantee, as one of the measures to implement a more proactive fiscal policy and accelerate investment into the real economy, according to an announcement from the Bank of China, one of the fund's sponsors.

An official from the ministry confirmed this news to China Daily and said it is working with other government departments, including the nation's financial regulators, to develop a system allowing commercial banks to participate in the fund.