GREEN TECH: An exhibitor introduces anaerobic technology for urban solid waste and kitchen waste disposal to visitors at the 12th China International Environmental Protection Exhibition and Conference in Beijing on June 7, 2011. The event has attracted more than 500 companies from 20 countries and regions (ZHAO BING)

Better Lending

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) on June 7 announced measures to provide better access to financing for small firms.The measures aim to support commercial banks to enable credit growth for small businesses to match their average lending growth, the CBRC said.

A loan of less than 5 million yuan ($770,000) to a small company will be viewed as retail lending, which brings smaller interest-rate risks compared with wholesale loans. Furthermore, a loan of less than 5 million yuan to a small company will not be subject to loan-to-deposit ratio supervision.

The CBRC supporting measures come at a time when a number of small firms have reportedly shut down in recent weeks because of difficulties acquiring loans amid monetary tightening policies.

Port Alliance

Four ports in east China's Shandong Province signed a strategic alliance with the largest port in South Korea, Busan.

Aiming to build a shipping and logistics center in northeast Asia, the alliance comprises Shandong's Qingdao Port, Yantai Port, Rizhao Port, Weihai Port and South Korea's Busan.

The five ports agreed they would mutually provide prompt and effective services for freight and passengers. They will also promote transit transport via the development of the Eurasian continental bridge and boost links between bonded areas in Shandong and the Busan Free Trade Zone.

The five ports will focus on the development of automobile freight transportation via sea and land, as well as the development of luxury cruises.

China-ASEAN Trade

Trade between China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is expected to top $300 billion this year due to the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (FTA), said Xu Ningning, Executive Secretary General of China-ASEAN Business Council on June 6.

The FTA, which opened last year, has boosted economic exchanges between China and ASEAN members, Xu said.

Customs data showed in the first four months of 2011, the trade value between China and ASEAN nations rose 26.5 percent year on year to $110.2 million.

Under the FTA agreement, the average tariff on goods from ASEAN countries to China was cut to 0.1 percent from 9.8 percent. Six ASEAN members, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, have slashed the average tariff on Chinese goods from 12.8 percent to 0.6 percent.

Poverty Relief Fund

Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region will earmark 50 billion yuan ($7.7 billion) for a poverty relief fund in the next five years, said Zhao Guoming, head of the regional poverty relief office on June 6.

Zhao said 60 percent of the fund will be used to support special industries and the rest on improving housing conditions in rural areas.

The regional government aimed to raise the per-capita annual net income of farmers and herdsmen in poverty-stricken regions to 5,000 yuan ($770.4) in five years, said Zhao.