China's tech SMEs receive more credit support in 2025

BEIJING - China's tech-oriented small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) saw improved access to credit by the end of 2025, central bank data showed on Tuesday.

By the conclusion of last year, a total of 275,000 tech-oriented SMEs had received loan support, with the loan access rate reaching 50.2 percent, up 2 percentage points from a year earlier, according to data released by the People's Bank of China.

Outstanding loans in both yuan and foreign currencies to tech SMEs stood at 3.63 trillion yuan ($519.63 billion) at the end of 2025, an increase of 19.8 percent year-on-year, and 13.6 percentage points faster than overall loan growth, the data revealed.

The data also showed that there was strengthened credit support for high-tech companies in 2025, with outstanding loans to high-tech firms in both yuan and foreign currencies rising 7.5 percent year-on-year to 18.61 trillion yuan, 1.3 percentage points higher than the overall loan growth rate.

Inclusive loans to small and micro firms grew rapidly last year, seeing outstanding inclusive small and micro loans in yuan terms standing at 36.57 trillion yuan, up 11.1 percent year-on-year.

Green loans in both yuan and foreign currencies increased by 7.72 trillion yuan in 2025, while outstanding agriculture-related loans grew 6.5 percent year-on-year to 53.57 trillion yuan by the end of 2025, the data revealed.