People’s Governments of All Cities and Autonomous Prefectures, Gansu Mining Area Office, Lanzhou New Area Administrative Committee, Relevant Departments of the Provincial Government, and Relevant Central Government Units in Gansu:

To thoroughly implement the “Four Major Financial Initiatives,” further strengthen the provision of financial services to support the development of market entities, facilitate economic circulation, and stimulate market vitality, the following opinions are hereby put forward with the approval of the Provincial Government.

I. General Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, thoroughly carry out General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions and requirements for Gansu, and follow the arrangements and deployments of the 14th Provincial Party Congress. We will efficiently coordinate COVID-19 prevention and control with economic and social development, fully, accurately, and comprehensively study and grasp the fundamental spirit and work requirements of the “New Ten Measures,” continue to implement the comprehensive package of policies to stabilize the economy and follow-up policies,and building upon existing financial support measures for enterprises, we will vigorously implement the “Four Major Financial Projects,” fully utilize financial policies, effectively deploy financial tools, and optimize the financial environment. We will promote the allocation of financial resources toward key sectors, weak links, and enterprises and industries facing operational difficulties, further boost the confidence of market entities, consolidate their foundations, and stimulate their vitality. This will facilitate the early return of economic and social development to normal tracks and achieve a virtuous cycle between the financial sector and the real economy.

II. Main Tasks

(1) Financial Supply Expansion Project.

1. Make Effective Use of Financial Policy Tools. Intensify the implementation of a prudent monetary policy, strengthen window guidance and policy transmission regarding credit policies, and fully coordinate credit disbursement to narrow the gap between the province’s loan growth rate and the national average. Strive to achieve a loan growth rate of over 9% in 2023 to provide robust support to market entities. Fully leverage the targeted guidance role of structural monetary policies, flexibly employ various monetary policy tools, and guide banking financial institutions to expand credit disbursement and reduce financing costs in a targeted manner.Strive to ensure the continued implementation of policy-based and development-oriented financial instruments, accelerate the disbursement and utilization of funds, and ensure proper support for loans already extended to projects. (Responsible Units: Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, all banking financial institutions, municipal and prefectural governments, Gansu Mining Area Office, and Lanzhou New Area Administrative Committee. The following tasks must be implemented by municipal and prefectural governments, the Gansu Mining Area Office, and the Lanzhou New Area Administrative Committee, and will not be listed separately.)

2. Tap into the potential of bank credit. Encourage banking financial institutions to actively cultivate existing clients, meet new effective credit demand, adjust and refine credit eligibility criteria, and extensively explore new client resources. Focus on resolving the “double bind” between banking financial institutions’ lending capacity and market entities’ borrowing needs; guide and assist banking financial institutions with a loan-to-deposit ratio below 80% in formulating annual credit plans, strengthen financing service coordination, and significantly increase the scale of credit disbursement.Leverage the pivotal role of local legal-person banks in credit growth, innovate financial products supporting agriculture and small businesses, broaden credit distribution channels, and reduce the proportion of idle deposit funds. In 2023, Gansu Bank and Lanzhou Bank are to extend new loans exceeding 30 billion yuan, with more than 45% of this amount allocated to support small, medium, and micro enterprises. (Responsible entities: Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, and all banking financial institutions)

3. Improve the financial ecosystem. Continuously optimize the allocation of financial resources, diversify the types of licensed financial institutions, and attract national financial institutions to establish subsidiaries, branches, and regional or specialized headquarters in Gansu, while also establishing specialized institutions for inclusive finance, green finance, and fintech.Actively develop non-bank financial institutions such as insurance, securities, trust, fund, and asset management firms, and support Gansu Financial Holding Group in applying for a financial holding license. Encourage the development of financial sectors such as financial leasing, auto finance, consumer finance, and third-party payment services, and promote the construction of factor markets such as commodity trading venues. (Responsible Units: Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Gansu Securities Regulatory Bureau, and relevant financial institutions)

(2) Industrial Finance Development Project.

1. Support the Development of Agricultural, Rural, and Farmer Entities. Encourage financial institutions to accelerate innovation in mechanisms, models, and products for agriculture-related financial services. Promote the “bank + leading enterprise + cooperative + family farm + farmer” interest-linkage mechanism in a manner suited to local conditions. Enrich financial products tailored for new types of agricultural operators and small-scale farmers. Continue to increase the allocation of microloans and entrepreneurship guarantee loans to those who have escaped poverty, ensuring that all eligible agricultural, rural, and farmer entities receive loans as needed.Promote the “raising of coverage standards, expansion of coverage scope, and increase in product offerings” for policy-based agricultural insurance; vigorously develop insurance for high-value and specialty agricultural products; actively promote the “insurance + futures” model; and enhance the ability of agricultural business entities to withstand risks from natural disasters and price fluctuations. (Responsible Units: Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Provincial Department of Human Resources and Social Security, Provincial Rural Revitalization Bureau, and relevant financial institutions)

2. Strengthen industrial financing services. Focusing on supporting the development of 3 industrial agglomeration belts, 7 industrial clusters with output value exceeding 100 billion yuan, and 13 industrial parks with output value exceeding 10 billion yuan, guide banking financial institutions to expand the scale of medium- and long-term loans and unsecured loans, with a focus on supporting the upgrading of traditional competitive industries, the development of strategic emerging industries, and the cultivation and expansion of high-tech industries. Establish a “whitelist” for industry-finance cooperation to provide a reference for financial institutions in implementing differentiated credit policies.Improve the financial service system for industrial parks by supporting the establishment of one-stop comprehensive financial service platforms to meet the diverse financing needs of enterprises within the parks. Promote accounts receivable pledge financing, leverage the role of leading enterprises in industrial chains, and vigorously develop supply chain financing for upstream and downstream small, medium, and micro enterprises, enabling the sharing of their own high-quality credit with upstream and downstream enterprises. Using the construction of the Lanzhou New Area Green Finance Reform and Innovation Pilot Zone as a driving force, accelerate the pace of green financial product innovation and guide the allocation of more financial resources toward low-carbon transition and green development.Encourage and promote the clustering of financial leasing companies, and guide large enterprise groups to explore various financing methods, including financial leasing. (Responsible Units: Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Lanzhou Central Branch, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, relevant financial institutions)

3. Deepen the integration of science and technology with finance. Encourage banking financial institutions to offer credit loans, intellectual property and equity pledge loans, and R&D loans tailored to the characteristics and needs of science and technology innovation enterprises, and to launch dedicated credit products for “specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative” enterprises. For small, medium, and micro enterprises that obtain bank loans through patent pledge, after the enterprise repays principal and interest on schedule, a subsidy covering 50% of the interest paid will be provided, with the annual subsidy limit for a single enterprise not exceeding 200,000 yuan.Improve the system of science and technology insurance products and support insurance companies in developing and launching products such as intellectual property insurance that meet the needs of science and technology innovation enterprises. Leverage the role of the Lan-Bai Science and Technology Innovation Reform Pilot Zone Technology Innovation Drive Fund and the National Science and Technology Achievement Transformation Guidance Fund to increase financing support for science and technology-based small, medium, and micro enterprises. Promote the innovative development of science and technology finance and actively apply to establish a National Science and Technology Innovation Finance Reform Pilot Zone.(Responsible Units: Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Market Regulation Bureau, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Lanzhou Central Branch, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, and relevant financial institutions)

(3) Service Quality and Efficiency Improvement Project.

1. Expand Inclusive Financial Services. Improve the long-term mechanism for financial institutions to have the confidence, willingness, capability, and expertise to lend to small and micro enterprises. Make effective use of inclusive small and micro enterprise loan support tools to guide banking financial institutions to prioritize allocating new credit resources to small and micro enterprises. Implement the “Two Increases” requirements for inclusive small and micro enterprise loans with individual credit limits of 10 million yuan or less (including 10 million yuan)—namely, loan growth rates no lower than the year-on-year growth rate of all loans,and the number of loan accounts must not be lower than the same period of the previous year), optimize and improve the due diligence and exemption from liability system, and explore simple, practical, and objectively quantifiable internal recognition standards and processes. Guide banking financial institutions to improve credit evaluation and credit management based on the production and operation characteristics of individual businesses, and promote the sustained growth of the loan balance and number of accounts for individual businesses.Actively organize eligible regions to apply for Inclusive Finance Demonstration Zones. Award and subsidy funds from these zones will be centrally allocated to subsidize interest on loans supporting small businesses and agriculture, provide risk compensation, and replenish the capital of government-backed financing guarantee institutions. (Responsible Units: Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Finance, and all banking financial institutions)

2. Facilitate efficient bank-enterprise collaboration. Break down “data barriers” and “information silos” by providing credit information services to financial institutions in accordance with laws and regulations, thereby better supporting their product development, credit assessment, and risk management. Leverage the role of credit big data in supporting financing credit services, and establish and improve the credit evaluation indicator system for small, medium, and micro enterprises.Make full use of platforms such as “Longxintong” and “Xinyidai,” and explore the establishment of the “Gansu Smart Finance Platform.” Strengthen the platforms’ data aggregation and analysis capabilities to continuously improve the coverage, accessibility, and convenience of loans for SMEs and micro-enterprises. Enhance offline government-bank-enterprise coordination by regularly organizing targeted and specialized financing matchmaking events. Establish a financial services coordination and consultation mechanism to jointly study and resolve investment and financing issues for major provincial projects and core enterprises.Establish a team of financial advisors to provide enterprises with public-interest, comprehensive financial services and enhance their financial management capabilities, with a focus on investment and financing. At the provincial level, form an initial team of 100 financial advisors to serve 100 key enterprises; municipal and prefectural-level governments shall establish corresponding working mechanisms accordingly. Set up “Financial Service Windows” or “Financial Service Zones” within government service centers.(Responsible Units: Provincial Development and Reform Commission, People’s Bank of China Lanzhou Central Branch, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Big Data Center, and all banking financial institutions)

3. Alleviate enterprises’ financing difficulties. Implement the “16 Measures” for financial support to the real estate sector and make full use of the special loan policy for ensuring the completion of housing projects to support the reasonable financing needs of real estate developers and construction companies. Guide all financial institutions to conscientiously implement various policies to benefit enterprises and alleviate difficulties, supporting the recovery and development of enterprises in the wholesale and retail, catering and accommodation, logistics and transportation, and cultural tourism sectors—which have been significantly affected by the pandemic—through new loans, loan extensions, or loan renewals.Actively support eligible small and micro enterprises in deferring principal and interest payments on loans. For loans to small and micro enterprises (including business loans to individual business operators and owners of small and micro enterprises) maturing in the fourth quarter of 2022 that are temporarily in difficulty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, encourage banking financial institutions to negotiate deferrals of principal and interest payments with borrowers based on market principles.Interest on deferred loans will continue to accrue normally, and penalty interest will be waived; in principle, the repayment date may be extended until June 30, 2023, at the latest.We will continue to unleash the potential of the LPR (Loan Prime Rate) reform, urging financial institutions to fully pass on the downward effects of the LPR to loan rates, thereby promoting a sustained decline in enterprises’ comprehensive financing costs. We encourage eligible regions to establish emergency credit revolving funds for enterprises. We support Gansu Province in further expanding the scale of its emergency revolving fund, broadening the range of partner institutions, and improving operational efficiency to alleviate financing difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises.(Responsible Units: Lanzhou Central Branch of the People’s Bank of China, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial Department of Commerce, Provincial Department of Science and Technology, Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Gansu Financial Holdings Group, and all banking financial institutions)

(IV) Project to Broaden Financing Channels.

1. Fully leverage the capital market. Establish a provincial bond financing reserve pool, improve the credit ratings of bond issuers, refine bond issuance guarantee mechanisms, enhance the service quality of intermediary institutions, and expand the investor base in the bond market to effectively promote corporate bond financing. Advance the integration, upgrading, and market-oriented transformation of municipal and county government financing platforms, revitalize existing assets, inject high-quality assets, and strengthen direct financing capabilities.Strengthen the promotion of innovative bond types. Support enterprises in issuing ABS (Asset-Backed Securities) and innovative bond varieties such as green bonds, innovation and entrepreneurship bonds, science and technology innovation bonds, and rural revitalization bonds. Promote the implementation of REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and encourage the issuance of credit-enhanced pooled bonds for small and micro enterprises. Seize the opportunities presented by the full implementation of the registration-based IPO system reform. Improve the mechanisms for recommending, screening, and nurturing prospective listed companies, strengthen dynamic management and targeted services for these companies, and accelerate the listing process for high-quality enterprises.Support listed companies in becoming stronger and more competitive by expanding the scale of direct financing through methods such as rights issues, private placements, and bond issuance. Support growth-oriented enterprises that do not yet meet listing standards in raising funds through listing on the “New Third Board” and the Gansu Equity Exchange Center.(Responsible Units: Gansu Securities Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Lanzhou Central Branch, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Provincial State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, Gansu Financial Holdings Group, and all securities institutions)

2. Strengthen credit enhancement support. Support government-backed financing guarantee institutions in establishing “head-to-head” bulk business cooperation with banking financial institutions, implementing “loan-guarantee linkage” and “guarantee-loan linkage” business models, eliminating collateral and counter-guarantee requirements, and accelerating the disbursement of guaranteed loans.Support government-backed financing guarantee institutions in reducing fees and offering preferential rates: the guarantee fee rate for individual loans of 10 million yuan or less shall not exceed 1%, and for individual loans exceeding 10 million yuan, the rate shall not exceed 1.5%. Expand the coverage and inclusiveness of agricultural guarantee services; the Provincial Agricultural Financing Guarantee Co., Ltd. shall apply a guarantee fee rate of 0.5% or lower for new “agriculture, rural areas, and farmers” (ARF) business.The Provincial Financial Holding Financing Guarantee Group shall halve re-guarantee fees for small, medium, and micro enterprises and individual business operators, and include eligible financing guarantee businesses within the scope of re-guarantee cooperation with the National Financing Guarantee Fund. Government-backed financing guarantee institutions shall be guided to actively seek national funding for fee reductions and subsidies for financing guarantees for small and micro enterprises. Regions with the capacity are encouraged to increase support for government-backed financing guarantee institutions in terms of capital replenishment, compensation for defaults, guarantee fee subsidies, and business incentives.Insurance institutions are encouraged to explore and develop products such as credit insurance, loan guarantee insurance, and policy-backed financing, expand the coverage of export credit insurance, and provide credit enhancement support for financing by SMEs and individual business operators. (Responsible Units: Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Department of Finance, Provincial Department of Industry and Information Technology, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Gansu Financial Holdings Group, Provincial Agricultural Guarantee Company, and relevant financial institutions)

3. Leverage the roles of various financial institutions. Fully utilize industrial funds and venture capital funds to attract and mobilize various forms of capital to support the innovative development of SMEs and micro-enterprises with technological advantages and growth potential. Guide trust funds toward key areas such as industrial transformation and upgrading supported by national policies, the cultivation of emerging industries, as well as small and micro-enterprises, major projects, and infrastructure construction. Fully leverage the positive role of local asset management companies in acquiring and disposing of non-performing assets, preventing and defusing regional financial risks, and supporting the development of the real economy.Guide microfinance companies and pawnshops to fully leverage their complementary business models and “small-scale, diversified” advantages to conduct collateralized financing businesses—such as financing secured by orders, inventory, and accounts receivable—in accordance with laws and regulations. (Responsible Units: Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau, People’s Bank of China Lanzhou Central Branch, Gansu Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, Gansu Securities Regulatory Bureau, Provincial Development and Reform Commission, and relevant financial institutions)

III. Support Measures

(1) Clarify Departmental Responsibilities. Financial regulatory, development and reform, science and technology, industry and information technology, finance, agriculture and rural affairs, commerce, culture and tourism, market regulation, and state-owned assets departments at all levels shall, in accordance with their respective functions, further refine work measures, strengthen coordination and collaboration, and ensure that all tasks and requirements are thoroughly implemented and effectively executed. All financial institutions shall improve incentive and constraint mechanisms as well as error-tolerance and correction mechanisms for financial support to market entities, fully mobilizing the initiative of grassroots institutions.

(2) Mobilize Joint Efforts for Implementation. Relevant departments at all levels shall, based on local conditions, strengthen communication and coordination, take the initiative to act, and form a collaborative framework of joint management to effectively implement a “comprehensive set of policies,” thereby ensuring that all policies designed to stimulate the vitality of market entities through financial support are effectively implemented and yield tangible results. The Provincial Financial Regulatory Bureau shall regularly compile and report statistics on financial support for market entities to ensure that policy effects are fully realized.

(3) Strengthen Policy Outreach. All localities, relevant departments, and financial institutions must continuously publicize, implement, and interpret preferential policies, financial instruments, and product services; innovate outreach methods to ensure policies are accurately conveyed to market entities and expand the scope of policy benefits. Exemplary practices and case studies regarding financial support for market entities should be promptly summarized and promoted to foster a favorable environment for financial services supporting the real economy.

(4) Effectively Prevent Risks. Balance development with security, strictly enforce local authorities’ responsibility for risk resolution, departmental management responsibilities, and enterprises’ primary responsibility. Strengthen financial risk monitoring in key industries and sectors to ensure early identification, early warning, and early resolution. All financial institutions must integrate financial services for the real economy with financial risk prevention and control. For liquidity difficulties faced by relevant industries and enterprises, they should conduct advance research, respond proactively, and implement effective risk mitigation measures.