Ten Departments: Building a High-Quality Bond Market “Technology Board” to Support Eligible SME Bond Financing

Zhitongcaijing · 2d ago

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 3, 10 departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the “15th Five-Year Plan” to Promote the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises. Among them, it is proposed to increase direct financing support. Strengthen the promotion of listing of small and medium-sized enterprises, establish a high-quality SME listing cultivation bank, and promote the normalization of equity financing. Deepen the construction of “specialized, special and new” special boards for regional equity trading markets. Build a high-quality “technology board” of the bond market to support eligible SME bond financing. Vigorously develop venture capital and establish the second phase of the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund to encourage social capital to invest early, small, long-term, and hard in technology.

The “Plan” proposes overall goals: by 2030, the overall development volume and quality of small and medium-sized enterprises in China will rise steadily, and labor remuneration and labor productivity will increase steadily; innovation and development capabilities will be significantly enhanced, and internal R&D expenses of large and medium-sized industrial SMEs will increase by more than 8% per year; the level of digital intelligence greening will accelerate and jump to create a number of typical application scenarios for digital intelligence transformation, and the digital intelligence level of specialized and new SMEs will account for more than 95%, and the efficiency of energy resource utilization will increase markedly; Continued improvement, the efficiency of the “One Network” service for small and medium-sized enterprises across the country has improved markedly; the development environment has been further optimized, a long-term mechanism to prevent and resolve arrears in accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises has basically been established, and diversified financing channels for small and medium-sized enterprises have been further broadened.

The original text is as follows:

The “15th Five-Year Plan” to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises

Small and medium-sized enterprises are an important force for promoting innovation, promoting employment, and improving people's livelihood. They are an important source of economic vitality and resilience, and a vital force for national economic and social development. In order to implement the “Small and Medium Enterprises Promotion Law of the People's Republic of China” and promote the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, this plan was formulated based on the “Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China”.

I. General Requirements

Adhere to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress and 20th Plenary Session of the CPC, earnestly implement the Fourth Plenary Session, fully and accurately implement the new development concept, accelerate the construction of a new development pattern, anchor the basic goal of new industrialization, adhere to and implement “two unwavering”, adhere to and implement “two unwavering”, adhere to the combination of effective markets and promising government, improve the cultivation of excellent enterprises, public services, legal policy systems, strengthen production factors and development environment guarantees, and fully stimulate small and medium-sized enterprises to innovate and start businesses Create vitality and potential, promote the specialized and innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and provide strong support for developing new quality productivity and building a modern industrial system.

By 2030, the overall development quality of small and medium-sized enterprises in China has risen sharply, the total revenue and assets of small and medium-sized enterprises have maintained steady growth, and the per capita operating income of small and medium-sized enterprises above the scale has increased by about 15%; the capacity for innovation and development has been significantly enhanced. The internal expenditure of R&D expenses of small and medium-sized enterprises above the scale has increased by more than 8% per year, the number of specialized and innovative “little giant” enterprises has reached 22,000, and the characteristic industrial clusters of national small and medium-sized enterprises have reached 600; the level of digital intelligence greening has accelerated and created a batch of digital intelligence transformation Typical application scenarios, specialized small and medium-sized enterprises account for more than 95% of the digital intelligence level and 80% or more, and energy resource utilization efficiency has improved markedly; the service system continues to improve, the service efficiency of the national SME service “One Network” has improved markedly, and a number of national SME public service demonstration platforms (bases) have been certified, and 50 cooperative zones for Chinese and foreign SMEs have reached 50; the development environment has been further optimized to prevent and resolve arrears of SME accounts; and diversified financing channels for small and medium-sized enterprises have been further broadened.

II. Main tasks

(1) Stabilize enterprises, stabilize employment, and drive employment through entrepreneurship

1. Encourage the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises. Make efficient use of all levels of government in the field of innovation and entrepreneurship

Investment funds drive more patient capital to be invested in small and medium-sized enterprises in the seed stage and start-up phase. Explore typical application scenarios and viable business models around emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, and robots, and future industries such as quantum technology, brain-computer interfaces, and embodied intelligence. Promote the integration of entrepreneurship incubation resources, and provide services such as office space, entrepreneurship guidance, consulting and training, investment and financing for the establishment of small and medium-sized enterprises. Organize innovation and entrepreneurship contests, select and discover outstanding entrepreneurial projects, and strengthen support and incubation. Promote the construction of national university science and technology parks, encourage researchers from institutions of higher learning, research institutes, and institutions to establish technology-based enterprises in accordance with relevant national regulations, and accelerate the market-based implementation of their own scientific research results. Establish necessary re-entrepreneurship guidance and support mechanisms.

2. Support enterprises to stabilize jobs and expand jobs to promote employment. Strengthen the implementation of guaranteed loans and interest rate discount policies for small and micro enterprises to start businesses, support the development of small and micro enterprises with strong employability, and help stabilize jobs and expand jobs. Eligible entrepreneurs who recruit people with difficulty in employment and college graduates are granted social insurance subsidies in accordance with regulations. Support college graduates to find employment in small and medium-sized enterprises, and encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to expand employment and internship positions. Tap into employment potential in advanced manufacturing industries, modern service industries, etc., and increase support for labor-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out on-the-job training for employees, promote the upgrading of digital literacy and skills, and enhance the effects of artificial intelligence on the employment creation of small and medium-sized enterprises.

(2) Strengthen enterprise cultivation and raise the level of specialization and new development

3. Strengthen the gradual cultivation of high-quality enterprises. Improve the gradient cultivation system for high-quality enterprises, establish a mechanism to promote the development and growth of specialized, special and new small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen the dynamic management of policies benefiting enterprises and certification of high-quality enterprises, and improve certification and exit standards. Continue to cultivate specialized, innovative, and “little giant” enterprises, promote the organic integration of technology-based SMEs and innovative SME evaluation systems, strengthen monitoring and services for gazelle enterprises and unicorn enterprises, and efficiently discover emerging industries and high-growth enterprises in future industries.

Column 1 High Quality SME Gradient Cultivation Project

1. Improve the active discovery mechanism for high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises. Dig deeper into multi-source data such as industrial chain supply chain, equity investment, intellectual property, etc., and construct enterprise evaluation and identification models to achieve accurate portrayal, dynamic monitoring and normalized discovery of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises with strong innovation capabilities and good development potential. Promote the combination of “active discovery” and “enterprise declaration” of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the cultivation of “seed selection, breeding, and excellence” throughout the life cycle.

2. Strengthen the cultivation and empowerment of specialized, special and new small and medium-sized enterprises. Implement gradient cultivation actions for high-quality enterprises, strengthen hierarchical classification support for enterprises, promote “direct access and quick enjoyment” of support policies, and improve accuracy. Support the local community to develop and expand the growth needs of specialized, special and new small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the life cycle based on advantageous industries, link them with various policies, innovations, talents, and financial resources, and comprehensively empower enterprises to enhance their ability to innovate.

3. Improve certification management and service levels. Coordinate the cultivation of high-quality enterprises and enterprise party building work, and strengthen the construction of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprise party organizations. Strengthen quality management for the certification of high-quality enterprises, carry out specialized and innovative development evaluations of small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the dynamic management of “entry and exit”, and prevent bad intermediaries from disrupting enterprise evaluations and certifications. Improve the service functions of the high-quality SME gradient cultivation platform.

4. Enhance the scientific and technological innovation capabilities of enterprises

Enhance the ability to innovate independently. Promote small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen original innovation, encourage technological and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises to increase investment in research and development, and support small and medium-sized enterprises that are in a position to do so to participate in major national science and technology projects, national key research and development plans, and national science and technology plans such as the National Natural Science Foundation of China. Support small and medium-sized enterprises with outstanding innovation capabilities to introduce or jointly build a number of new R&D institutions and technology transfer service agencies, and participate in the construction of science and technology innovation platforms such as the National Manufacturing Innovation Center, the National Technological Innovation Center, and the National Key Laboratory. Support manufacturing pilot platforms, industrial technology infrastructure public service platforms, etc. to strengthen capacity building for pilot maturation of scientific and technological achievements.

Promote industry-university-research collaborative innovation. Support universities, research institutes, leading enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises to jointly establish innovation consortia and strengthen research and development of key core technologies and common technologies. Encourage various industry-university-research collaborative innovation platforms to strengthen special services classified according to industry needs, and increase collaboration such as risk sharing and benefit sharing.

Accelerate the transfer and transformation of scientific and technological achievements. Promote the industrialization of patents, promote the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthen inclusive intellectual property services. Encourage the public to open the bank of various scientific and technological achievements transformation projects supported by the government free of charge to small and medium-sized enterprises. Guide universities and research institutes to license scientific and technological innovation achievements for use by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises according to the first-use and then pay-as-you-go method.

5. Enhance the competitiveness of enterprises in the market

Improve the quality management system. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance basic quality technology capabilities, establish advanced quality management systems, introduce quality engineering technology, and popularize lean management and lean manufacturing methods and software. Promote the digitization of quality management and support small and medium-sized enterprises to improve quality control capabilities through digital inspection, accurate quality traceability, and quality collaboration. Support professional service agencies to carry out services such as quality diagnosis and quality improvement for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Strengthen brand development. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to formulate trademark brand strategies and establish a full life cycle brand management system. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to effectively identify and evaluate brand value, strengthen trademark brand protection and management, focus on brand registration of their own trademarks, and prevent malicious trademark squatting and infringement risks. Promote small and medium-sized enterprises to cultivate a number of competitive and well-known brand-name products, protect traditional brands such as time-honored brands, and promote intangible heritage brands.

Improve standardization capabilities. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to establish standardized management systems and strengthen the construction of enterprise standard systems. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to transform innovative achievements into standards, support small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the revision of group standards, national standards, and international standards, and reflect the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises in relevant standard system revisions. Raise the level of standardization in promoting the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and improve standards in key areas such as SME cultivation, service, and digital intelligence transformation.

Column 2 Special Actions to Improve the Quality Brand Standards Capacity of Small and Medium Enterprises

1. Improve the product quality of small and medium-sized enterprises. Deeply carry out work such as “enterprise entry assistance” for quality management of manufacturing enterprises, measurement services for small and medium-sized enterprises, and quality certification improvement for small and micro enterprises. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises that are in a position to do so to carry out quality management capability assessments, and promote “chain owners” and leading enterprises to drive joint quality improvement between upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial chain.

2. Create famous products for small and medium-sized enterprises by industry and field. Promote and implement a brand cultivation management system to promote small and medium-sized enterprises to increase variety, improve quality, and create brands. Strengthen the cultivation and promotion of “Made in China” brands, agricultural brand boutiques, etc., create famous consumer products in a hierarchical manner, and cultivate a number of specialty brands for small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen industrial design to empower small and medium-sized enterprises and enhance corporate brand image and influence.

3. Promote standard leadership and compliance with standards. Establish a standardized technology organization to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and establish a standard system to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Promote upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain to jointly develop standards. Actively carry out standards promotion training, widely disseminate standardization concepts, knowledge and methods, and guide small and medium-sized enterprises to implement advanced standards.

6. Improve the level of business management

Establish a modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to improve the property rights structure and form an enterprise property rights system with clear ownership, reasonable structure and smooth circulation. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to optimize corporate governance structures, standardize the behavior of controlling shareholders and actual controllers, and strengthen internal control and risk management. Promote artificial intelligence to empower the management of small and medium-sized enterprises and raise the level of refined and scientific management. Promote small and medium-sized enterprises to integrate the concept of social responsibility into production and operation.

Cultivate an excellent corporate culture. Promote small and medium-sized enterprises to establish corporate culture, and integrate cultural construction into the whole process of strategic management, production and operation, employee training, assessment and evaluation. Promote entrepreneurship and guide small and medium-sized entrepreneurs to be a model for patriotism, law-abiding management, entrepreneurship and innovation, and giving back to society. Promote the spirit of craftsmen and promote small and medium-sized enterprises to cultivate a group of “big country craftsmen” and highly skilled talents. Promote the spirit of scientists, encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to actively explore and break through strategic and key technologies, and continuously emerge from scientific and technological innovation achievements.

Strengthen compliance management. Research and prepare application requirements and guidelines for SME compliance management systems to guide SMEs to strengthen compliance. Encourage local authorities to carry out compliance management training and compliance management diagnosis services for small and medium-sized enterprises to raise the level of compliance awareness and compliance management of small and medium-sized enterprises. Promote trusteeship services for labor relations matters for small and micro enterprises, and strengthen the management of labor and employment risk sources. Research and formulate sustainable disclosure guidelines for small and medium-sized enterprises to guide willing SMEs to carry out sustainable development information disclosure.

7. Deepen practical exchanges and cooperation

Develop partnerships. Deepen multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the United Nations, the Group of Twenty, the BRICS countries, and APEC, and promote bilateral cooperation in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises. Support the integration of small and medium-sized enterprises into the BRICS New Industrial Revolution Partnership and participate deeply in the “Belt and Road” construction. Promote the construction of cooperative zones for small and medium-sized enterprises between China and foreign countries in an integrated manner, and link and develop collaboratively with overseas economic and trade cooperation zones within and outside.

Strengthen market connection and promotion. Organize the China International SME Fair in accordance with relevant regulations, and strengthen the provision of brand promotion, technical exchange, and project promotion functions for small and medium-sized enterprises. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to connect with international markets through large-scale commercial banking networks, technology and industrial chain resources, and use cross-border e-commerce platforms to participate in international trade. Raise the level of digital governance of foreign investment of small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the application of electronic certificates.

(3) Accelerate the green development of digital intelligence and promote enterprise transformation and upgrading

8. Accelerate the transformation to digital intelligence

Deepen your digital transformation. Firmly promote the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in urban pilot projects, and replicate and promote typical models. Identify priority areas and key directions of transformation, increase support for the digital transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises in traditional industries, and promote chain integration and digital transformation. Promote the automated, digital and networked transformation of industrial equipment for small and medium-sized enterprises, and develop and promote flexible manufacturing units. Systematically cultivate a number of specialized tool products, solutions and service providers for typical application scenarios of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Promote intelligent empowerment. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises with a digital foundation to strengthen

Artificial intelligence applications participate in “artificial intelligence+manufacturing”, smart factory gradient cultivation, intelligent manufacturing system solution research and standard setting applications. Improve the digital intelligence enabling service system for small and medium-sized enterprises, and build an artificial intelligence application service chain for small and medium-sized enterprises. Promote inclusive computing power to empower the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and reduce the computing costs of small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the construction of a national artificial intelligence open source community, and support small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out software process capability maturity model assessments.

Column 3 Special Actions for Digital and Intelligent Transformation of Small and Medium Enterprises

1. Implement digital and intelligent transformation in hierarchical steps. Implement in-depth transformation of key scenarios for specialized and new SMEs and industrial SMEs to create scenario samples such as product process simulation, equipment predictive operation and maintenance, and intelligent production line control. Promote inclusive “go to the cloud and use numbers to empower wisdom” services to small and micro enterprises to raise the basic level of digitalization.

2. Promote the transformation of chain group integration and digital intelligence. Support “chain owners” and leading enterprises to open digital system interfaces, and promote the active integration of small and medium-sized enterprises into the digital supply chain of large enterprises. Support industrial Internet enterprises in segmented industries to build industrial chain collaboration capabilities. Support the development of standardized and modular digital tools and services in key clusters and parks, and systematically improve the overall digital level of small and medium-sized enterprises in clusters and parks.

3. Strengthen artificial intelligence innovation and empowerment. Organize and carry out the “Empower Ten Thousand Enterprises” artificial intelligence promotion activities to empower small and medium-sized enterprises, and sort out typical application scenarios for the application of artificial intelligence by small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage leading enterprises, trading institutions, data service enterprises, etc. to strengthen the construction of high-quality data sets, strengthen the supply of autonomous and controlled intelligent technology products and services, and encourage the launch of a number of large-scale vertical industry models and characteristic intelligence systems suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

4. Improve the quality and efficiency of digital transformation services. Focusing on the digital intelligence transformation scenario map of industry segments, leading enterprises and industrial software companies are encouraged to develop special digital intelligence tools and cultivate a number of “small, quick and easy” digital intelligence products and solutions. Implement artificial intelligence small and medium-sized enterprise entrepreneurship support plans, promote entrepreneurship incubation carriers to strengthen the construction of platforms such as computing power scheduling and data openness, and provide full life cycle services for small and medium-sized enterprises with artificial intelligence.

9. Accelerate green transformation

Promote green transformation. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to establish the concept of green development, guide small and medium-sized enterprises that are in a position to do so to gradually establish a full-cycle green production model, adopt green design, use green production materials and green technology, and achieve green recycling. Promote small and medium-sized enterprises in traditional industries to implement green and low-carbon transformation and raise the level of environmental protection performance. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out product carbon footprint and corporate carbon emission management, develop and promote green products, and build green factories.

Strengthen green development support and services. Expand the scope and scale of green products procured by the government to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Guide banks and insurance institutions to support small and medium-sized enterprises through green finance to promote the construction of clean and low-carbon energy systems and the promotion and application of green technology. Cultivate a number of green service agencies to provide services such as energy saving and carbon reduction diagnosis and technical docking for small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage large enterprises to drive upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises to jointly build a green supply chain.

(4) Promote collaborative integration and development and enhance industrial chain support capabilities

10. Promote the integrated development of large, medium, and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage leading science and technology enterprises to open up scientific research conditions and application scenarios to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and provide technical development services. Guide large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises to share production factors, innovation platforms and service resources, encourage large enterprises to try and use innovative products for the first time, and support the application of supporting products for small and medium-sized enterprises in the first (set) of major technical equipment. Further promote the integration and connection between upper, middle and lower reaches of the industrial chain, large, medium and small enterprises, give full play to the driving role of leading enterprises, organize and carry out the “listing” work of large enterprises to “list” small and medium-sized enterprises, help more small and medium-sized enterprises integrate into the supply chain of large enterprises, overcome a number of industrial technical problems, form a number of integrated and innovative achievements, and build an integrated innovation ecosystem where large, medium, and small enterprises are interdependent and promote each other.

11. Promote the clustering development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Guide small and medium-sized enterprises to gather and develop in science and technology parks and industrial parks such as national high-tech zones. Vigorously cultivate characteristic industrial clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises, improve digital infrastructure construction, promote resource utilization and harmless treatment of industrial waste clusters, strengthen clusters to share manufacturing capabilities, gather equipment, talents and service resources, and reduce production and operation costs. Relying on industrial clusters characteristic of small and medium-sized enterprises, it empowers the development of rich industries such as agriculture, handicrafts, cultural tourism, etc. characteristic of the county, drives collaboration and linkage between small and medium-sized enterprises in the East, Central, West and Northeast regions, and promotes the coordinated development of regional industries.

Column 4 Small and Medium Enterprise Characteristic Industrial Cluster Capacity Enhancement Project

1. Strengthen the connectivity of the cluster industry chain. Support characteristic industrial clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises to enhance professional support capabilities around key links in key industrial chains, and strengthen spatial complementarity and policy coordination with advanced manufacturing clusters. Promote industrial clusters characteristic of small and medium-sized enterprises to deepen cooperation with “chain owners”, and promote collaboration of innovative achievements, technical talents, production and service resources.

2. Enhance cluster sharing capabilities. Support characteristic industrial clusters of small and medium-sized enterprises to build an information base on R&D, manufacturing and service resources, carry out logistics, warehousing, procurement, manpower, etc., promote models such as collection and distribution, unified warehousing and distribution, and strengthen the integrated operation of production, supply, marketing, storage and transportation. Promote the adoption of clean transportation methods for newly renovated and expanded clusters, and encourage clusters to strengthen information-based management. Encourage clusters to build shared factories, centrally deploy production equipment with strong versatility and high acquisition costs, and promote the construction of centralized heating and gas supply centers and “green islands” for volatile organic matter treatment according to local conditions to meet the common manufacturing needs of clusters. Encourage the construction of cluster digital intelligence empowerment centers, and organize “digital commissioners” to help cluster enterprises digitally transform. Support export-oriented clusters to connect with institutions such as testing and certification, and provide a “one-stop” service for overseas market access.

3. Promote the coordinated development of regional clusters. Industrial clusters characteristic of small and medium-sized enterprises in the eastern region are encouraged to strengthen the forward-looking layout of emerging industries and future industries; clusters in the central region further promote technological transformation and upgrading and equipment upgrading; and clusters in the western and northeastern regions focus on improving the efficiency of comprehensive utilization of energy resources and advanced product processing. Connect the industrial chains of clusters in the East, Central, West and Northeast regions, and promote interregional cluster counterpart cooperation by industry. Encourage all regions to monitor cluster development and organize and carry out diagnosis of the level of cluster development.

12. Improve the ability to stabilize the chain and strengthen the chain. Support specialized small and medium-sized enterprises to create new momentum, attack new technologies, develop new products, and strengthen supporting capabilities in the industrial chain. Conduct an assessment of the ability to support the industrial chain of specialized, special and new small and medium-sized enterprises. Organize specialized and new small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in the “one-stop” application plan for key products and processes to support the accelerated development of small and medium-sized enterprises undertaking major tasks such as industrial infrastructure reconstruction, high-quality manufacturing development projects, and high-quality development actions for key industrial chains. Promote large enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen supply chain risk warning and enhance supply chain stability and competitiveness.

(5) Strengthen the supply of factors of production and establish a solid foundation for development

13. Strengthening financial support

Strengthen the supply of inclusive finance. Make comprehensive use of monetary and credit policies, etc., to guide financial institutions to increase credit support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Further carry out financial service capacity enhancement projects, make good use of financing coordination mechanisms to support small and micro enterprises, and improve the efficiency of bank-enterprise matchmaking. Improve credit enhancement systems for private small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote the collection and sharing of credit information. Give full play to the leading role of the national financing guarantee fund system and guide government financing guarantee agencies at all levels to increase financing and credit support for small and micro enterprises.

Increase direct financing support. Strengthen the promotion of listing of small and medium-sized enterprises, establish a high-quality SME listing cultivation bank, and promote the normalization of equity financing. Deepen the construction of “specialized, special and new” special boards for regional equity trading markets. Build a high-quality “technology board” of the bond market to support eligible SME bond financing. Vigorously develop venture capital and establish the second phase of the National Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund to encourage social capital to invest early, small, long-term, and hard in technology.

Enrich financial products and services. Establish a diversified financing promotion system linked to credit, equity, bonds, insurance, guarantees, etc., and carry out financing promotion activities for small and medium-sized enterprises around key industrial chains. Strengthen the development and design of insurance products in response to the risk protection needs of small and medium-sized enterprises in key areas such as scientific and technological research and development, transformation of achievements, and industrialization promotion. Support futures companies to provide convenient and efficient risk management services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Column 5 Special Actions to Promote Financing for Small and Medium Enterprises

1. Improve the quality and efficiency of inclusive financial services. Encourage financial institutions to develop products and services suited to the needs of small and micro enterprises, optimize loan structures, and further improve the convenience and accessibility of inclusive financial services. Implement loan interest rate discount policies for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and make good use of policy tools such as special guarantee plans for private investment and special guarantee plans for scientific and technological innovation to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to increase investment and expand reproduction.

2. Play the role of multi-level capital markets. Through deepening reforms, the inclusiveness and adaptability of the multi-level capital market system will be further enhanced, and eligible small and medium-sized enterprises will be supported for listing (listing) financing in appropriate sectors. Implement the “Thousand Sails and 100 Ge” project specializing in the listing and cultivation of new small and medium-sized enterprises and the “Technology Industry Financial Integration” project to strengthen direct financing, training, guidance and other services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Further develop the role of the exchange in a series of specialized and new indices to guide market capital to support listed high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises.

3. Improve the financing promotion system. Play the role of a platform for credit information sharing, industry-finance cooperation, etc., and rely on the construction and strong use of basic financial credit information databases and national credit information collection and processing joint laboratories to lower the financing threshold for small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen the sharing of the list of high-quality enterprises, make good use of the evaluation results of the special and new development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and promote financial institutions to efficiently meet corporate financing needs. Promote pilot work to deepen credit enhancement accounting data standards for small and micro enterprises, and study and formulate recommended national standards for credit enhancement accounting data for small and micro enterprises. Guide financial institutions to provide diversified financial services around the financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises in key industrial chains.

14. Strengthen talent support

Strengthen support for management personnel. Develop training for small and medium-sized enterprise management personnel, and establish a “famous teacher excellent course” training course system. Strengthen the training and introduction support of successors to small and medium-sized enterprises, step up mentoring and mentoring efforts for the younger generation of entrepreneurs, and promote the handover and orderly succession of new and old businesses. Encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to create innovative forms of enterprise organization and continue to promote product, technology, business model, management and system innovation.

Strengthen support for professional and technical personnel. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to strengthen the motivation and introduction of technical talents, provide support in job title applications, talent assessment, etc., and implement continuing education to update knowledge. Broaden the channels for the introduction of international high-tech talents for small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage technical support services for small and medium-sized enterprises through doctoral teams, shared engineers, etc.

Strengthen support for skilled professionals. Deepen the construction and reform of the small and medium-sized enterprise industrial workforce, and carry out vocational skills upgrading training by industry and field. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to organize employees to participate in vocational skills contests. Strengthen the talent connection between small and medium-sized enterprises and vocational schools, and strengthen cooperation in internship practices. Guide enterprises to establish a remuneration distribution system for skilled talents reflecting skill value incentives, carry out collective wage negotiations for skilled talents, and improve wage determination, reasonable growth, and payment guarantee mechanisms for workers.

Column 6 Special Actions for Talent Services for Small and Medium Enterprises

1. Strengthen support for the introduction of talents in small and medium-sized enterprises. Encourage all regions to include the talents that are urgently needed by small and medium-sized enterprises in the talent introduction catalogue, and support small and medium-sized enterprises to introduce highly skilled talents through technology investment and project cooperation. Continue to forecast industrial talent needs, build a talent resource pool and a small and medium-sized enterprise demand bank, and promote intelligent and accurate matching of talent production. Special service activities such as the “Spring Breeze Campaign”, “100 Day Recruitment”, “Excellent Enterprises Entering Schools to Recruit Talents”, and “In-depth Matchmaking Tour for Small and Medium Enterprises and Colleges” will be held. Launch “Model Worker Craftsmen Help Businesses”, organize model worker craftsmen to conduct on-site guidance, technical guidance, and skills training for small and medium-sized enterprises, and share experiences and practices in enterprise management and team building.

2. Improve the quality of talent training in small and medium-sized enterprises. Support all regions to arrange funds to increase training efforts for small and medium-sized enterprises and promote full coverage of specialized, innovative “little giant” enterprise training. Encourage all kinds of vocational skills training institutions to provide high-quality talent training, continuing education, skills training, etc. to small and medium-sized enterprises. Implement a manufacturing talent support plan to select and support a group of high-level management, technical, and skilled talents for small and medium-sized enterprises. Build a national practice base for outstanding engineers by field to support small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in urban industry-education consortia and industry-industry-education integration community building.

3. Improve the evaluation and retention of talents in small and medium-sized enterprises. Improve talent evaluation methods, give full play to the role of the underwriting mechanism for professional and technical talent titles in small and medium-sized enterprises, support places that are in a position to do so to implement separate groups and individual reviews for small and medium-sized enterprises, and implement the “New Level 8 Worker” vocational skill rating system. Support all regions to optimize wage allocation guidance services for small and medium-sized enterprises, guide small and medium-sized enterprises to optimize remuneration incentives for skilled talents, and determine the minimum wage for skilled workers by classification and classification.

15. Strengthen data element support. Encourage leading enterprises and platform enterprises to open up data governance and development and utilization capabilities to small and medium-sized enterprises, and guide service small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out tasks such as data cleaning and labeling, transaction matching, analysis and mining. Explore the construction of data circulation and utilization facilities to promote the safe and reliable circulation of high-value data between large, medium, and small enterprises. Strengthen the application and promotion of cybersecurity insurance services and enhance the network and data security protection capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises. Enrich the supply of data-related standards and technology, and promote small and medium-sized enterprises to carry out data management capability maturity model assessments. Support small and medium-sized enterprises to explore the registration of data assets and encourage the registration of data property rights.

(6) Improve the service system for small and medium-sized enterprises to help enterprises reduce costs and improve quality and efficiency

16. Improve public services. Strengthen the construction of public service systems for small and medium-sized enterprises at the national, provincial, municipal and county levels, strengthen the public service capabilities of cities and counties, and promote the sinking of service resources into parks and clusters. Build a strong national SME service “one network”, deepen the application of “artificial intelligence+SME services”, and create a number of national SME public service demonstration platforms (bases). Strengthen coordination and linkage between public service systems for small and medium-sized enterprises and public service systems such as intellectual property rights.

17. Improve market-based services. Explore the establishment of service standards for small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the classification and classification of services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Market-based service agencies are encouraged to focus on the individual needs of enterprises and provide differentiated, characteristic and specialized services. Sort out the service needs of small and medium-sized enterprises by field and topic, gather typical service solutions, and build a smart map of SME services.

18. Strengthen social welfare services. Encourage all regions to mobilize the strength of social service organizations, build a team of high-level public service (volunteering) experts, explore the establishment of public service sites, and create a number of public service activities. Support industry associations, chambers of commerce, universities, research institutes, etc. to focus on public welfare services for small and micro enterprises in counties, towns, and remote areas. Strengthen supervision and management to ensure the public welfare, standardization and effectiveness of public service services for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Column 7 Small and Medium Enterprise Public Service Capacity Enhancement Project

1. Improve systematic service capabilities. Encourage the establishment of public service stations in cities, counties, parks, and clusters where small and medium-sized enterprises gather to open up the “last mile” of services. Build a service network for small and medium-sized enterprises in China to a high standard, improve the SME bank, legal policy bank, service agency bank, and service product case library, gather all kinds of service resources, plus

Fast interconnection, resource sharing and business collaboration with local online integrated service platforms to accelerate the formation of a “one network” of services for small and medium-sized enterprises across the country. Make full use of next-generation information technology such as big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to innovate new models such as cloud services, handheld services, and self-service. Strengthen training and communication among service personnel and enhance the capabilities of service agency practitioners.

2. Create a national public service demonstration platform (base) for small and medium-sized enterprises. Highlight public nature, effectiveness, innovation and exemplary nature, and create a number of national public service demonstration platforms (bases) for small and medium-sized enterprises with management standards, outstanding performance, wide service coverage, and high credibility. Guide demonstration platforms (bases) to improve service capabilities, expand the scope of services, reduce service costs, increase publicity, communication and resource sharing, and promote the improvement of the public service level of small and medium-sized enterprises.

3. Build brand service activities. Continue to carry out activities such as “Growing Enterprises Together”, “SME Service Month” and “SME Legal Policy Promotion Month”, and collaboratively carry out service activities to help small and micro business entities develop “Chunyu Runmiao” and special intellectual property public service actions for small and medium-sized enterprises, and organize service resources to go deep into enterprises, parks, and clusters to deliver policies, technology, and delivery management. Encourage all regions to build unique and bright SME service activity brands according to local conditions.

(7) Strengthen legal and policy guarantees and improve the development environment for small and medium-sized enterprises

19. Increase policy support. Strengthen the promotion of relevant laws and regulations for small and medium-sized enterprises, create a good atmosphere for small and medium-sized enterprises to know the law and understand how to use the law, and help small and medium-sized enterprises raise their legal awareness. Strengthen interdepartmental policy coordination and integration, and research and introduce policy measures to promote the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Strengthen policy inclusiveness coverage, innovate and promote no-application policy mechanisms, and apply big data, artificial intelligence and other technologies to achieve accurate support for small and medium-sized enterprises. Give full play to the role of an Internet publishing platform for national SME policy information, China's SME service network, small and micro enterprise directory, etc., to strengthen publicity and interpretation of policies benefiting enterprises and promote the implementation and effectiveness of policies. Strengthen the construction of think tanks for small and medium-sized enterprises, raise the level of theoretical research on SME development policies, and form a number of influential research results.

20. Optimizing the business environment. Deeply promote the construction of a unified national market, improve systems such as property rights protection, market access, information disclosure, social credit, mergers and restructuring, and market exit, and create a legal business environment with fair competition. Strengthen rigid restrictions on fair competition review, strengthen anti-monopoly and anti-unfair competition enforcement, and control disorderly competition among enterprises. Strict quality and safety supervision, and step up the crackdown on illegal acts such as production and sale of unqualified products, infringement, and counterfeiting. Prevent and stop monopoly behavior in the platform economy, and focus on safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized enterprises within the Internet platform. Strictly regulate administrative law enforcement involving enterprises, optimize administrative inspection methods for enterprises involved, and improve joint supervision and joint punishment mechanisms for fees charged by enterprises involved.

21. Protect legal rights

Prevent the settlement of arrears in accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises. Thoroughly implement the “Opinions on Resolving the Problem of Delinquent Enterprise Accounts”, strictly implement the “Regulations on Safeguarding Payment of Funds for Small and Medium Enterprises”, and introduce relevant supporting measures such as handling complaints and punishing loss of trust. Build and improve a national complaint platform for defaulting on payments to small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the “two-level acceptance and four-level processing” complaint handling mechanism, and achieve “one-stop acceptance” and “one network access”. Strengthen efforts to clean up arrears owed by institutions, public institutions, and large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises, and strengthen management at the source.

Strengthen rights protection services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Play the role of a national intellectual property protection center and rapid rights protection center to provide rapid collaborative intellectual property protection services for small and medium-sized enterprises. Deeply carry out special enforcement actions to “protect intellectual property rights” to crack down on acts that infringe on the intellectual property rights of small and medium-sized enterprises. Establish and improve diversified dispute resolution mechanisms, promote complementary advantages, organic links, coordination and linkage of people's mediation, administrative mediation, industry-specific mediation, judicial mediation, etc., and provide services such as rights protection and dispute handling for small and medium-sized enterprises.

III. Strengthening organizational implementation

To strengthen overall guidance, all relevant departments should integrate the promotion of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises into the unified planning, deployment, and unified promotion of the department's central work, strengthen business guidance, and form joint efforts. Strengthen monitoring, evaluation and supervision of planning and implementation, improve the classification standards for small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen statistical surveys and monitoring and analysis of small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the normalized communication mechanism between government and enterprises, carry out third-party assessments of the development environment of small and medium-sized enterprises in accordance with the law, standardize the management of enterprise type titles, and improve supporting policies. Strengthen publicity and guidance, give full play to the role of SME think tanks, industry associations and chambers of commerce, etc., strengthen policy research and promotion, decision support and enterprise services, actively report on new developments and results in the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, tell stories about the specialized and new development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and create a favorable environment for the whole society to care about and support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Interpretation of the “Fifteenth Five-Year Plan” to Promote the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with 10 departments of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Commerce, the People's Bank of China, the General Administration of Market Supervision, the General Administration of Financial Supervision, and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, jointly issued the “15th Five-Year Plan” (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology Joint Regulatory Letter (2026) No. 290, hereinafter referred to as the “Plan”). Recently, comrades in charge of the Small and Medium Enterprises Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology explained the situation relating to the “Plan”.

Q: Please tell us about the background of the introduction of the “Plan”?

A: Small and medium-sized enterprises are an important source of economic vitality and resilience. General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that it is necessary to create a favorable environment for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises, focus on promoting enterprise innovation, and stimulate the emergence of more specialized and new small and medium-sized enterprises. During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, the overall development strength of China's small and medium-sized enterprises increased markedly. The operating income and total assets of small and medium-sized enterprises above the scale increased by 5.7% and 6.6% respectively; their ability to innovate rapidly improved, and the “gold sign” of specialized, special and new “little giant” enterprises continued to polish. The average R&D investment intensity of specialized and new “little giant” enterprises reached 7%, with an average R&D investment of over 30 million yuan. Currently, breakthroughs in the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are accelerating. The game between major powers is more complex and intense. Strategic opportunities and risks and challenges coexist for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. It is necessary to further increase policy support, strengthen reform and innovation initiatives, fully tap development potential, enhance the endogenous motivation of enterprises, and consolidate and expand the foundation of the real economy. It is important to prepare and implement the “Plan” to adapt to the new situation and requirements.

Q: What are the overall considerations of the Plan?

A: In terms of positioning, the “Plan” focuses on serving the overall development of the country. The “Plan” is guided by the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee and the “Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China”. It is based on the new characteristics and requirements of the new stage of development, focuses on the Party Central Committee's judgment on the national economic and social development situation during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, and puts forward detailed goals and tasks to promote the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

The “Plan” is oriented and focuses on the general requirements for high-quality development. The “Plan” adheres to problem orientation and goal orientation, and plans a layout around effective qualitative improvement and rational quantitative growth. It not only focuses on moving towards excellence, constructing mechanisms to promote the development and growth of specialized and new SMEs, promoting the gradual growth of small and medium-sized enterprises, promoting intelligent, green and integrated development, but also focusing on solving relief problems such as shortage of talents, insufficient capital, and protection of rights and interests.

On the implementation path, the “Plan” insists on inheriting the future, maintaining integrity and innovation. The “Plan” not only deepens and expands the fruitful work of the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, such as supporting entrepreneurship, enhancing innovation capabilities, and improving the availability of financing; it also proposes new measures to strengthen the systemic and forward-looking nature of the work in response to the new situation and changes, including strengthening the empowerment of artificial intelligence, promoting collaborative integration of the industrial chain, and building a “one network” of services for small and medium-sized enterprises throughout the country.

Q: What are the general requirements of the Plan?

Answer: The “Plan” adheres to Xi Jinping's ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, thoroughly implements the spirit of the 20th National Congress and the 20th Plenary Session of the CPC, earnestly implements the deployment of the Fourth Plenary Session, completely, accurately and comprehensively implements the new development concept, accelerates the construction of a new development pattern, anchors the basic goal of promoting high-quality development, takes reform and innovation as the fundamental driving force, and upholds and implements the “two unwavering”, adhering to the integration of effective markets and promising government, improving the cultivation of excellent enterprises, public services, and legal policy systems, strengthening production factors and development environment guarantees. Innovation and entrepreneurship of small and medium-sized enterprises creates vitality and potential, promotes the specialized and innovative development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and provides strong support for the development of new quality productivity and the construction of a modern industrial system.

Q: What are the main tasks deployed in the Plan?

The “Plan” focuses on the high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises, arranges the main tasks from seven aspects, and supports seven major projects/actions to ensure the orderly progress of all tasks.

The first is to stabilize enterprises, stabilize employment, and drive employment through entrepreneurship. The second is to strengthen enterprise cultivation and raise the level of specialization and new development. The third is to accelerate the green development of digital intelligence and promote enterprise transformation and upgrading. Fourth, promote collaborative integration and development and enhance the ability to support the industrial chain. The fifth is to strengthen the supply of factors of production and establish a solid foundation for development. The sixth is to improve the service system for small and medium-sized enterprises to help enterprises reduce costs and improve quality and efficiency. The seventh is to strengthen legal and policy guarantees and improve the environment for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises. Among them, the first 4 items focus on stimulating the endogenous vitality of the enterprise itself, while the last 3 focus on external factors, services, and environmental protection.

At the same time, the “Plan” simultaneously sets up seven special projects/actions to refine supporting measures in key areas such as gradient cultivation of excellent enterprises, improvement of quality brand standard capabilities, digital intelligence transformation, improvement of industrial cluster capacity, financing promotion, talent service, and public service capacity improvement to provide support for the implementation and effectiveness of various tasks.

Q: What are the highlights and innovations of the Plan?

A: The “Plan” innovates in terms of cultivation management, development paths, policy methods, etc., and can mainly be summarized as “three further steps”.

The first is to further highlight the effective improvement of quality on the basis of reasonable growth in quantity. The “Plan” proposes to maintain steady growth in revenue and total assets. At the same time, it puts more emphasis on improving the quality of development, and proposes to establish a mechanism to promote the development and growth of specialized and new SMEs, improve the active discovery mechanism for high-quality SMEs, strengthen quality management of high-quality enterprises, improve certification and exit standards; place more emphasis on enhancing the market competitiveness of enterprises, deploying measures in the three areas of improving quality management systems, strengthening brand cultivation, and enhancing standardization capabilities; and encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises to establish a modern enterprise system with Chinese characteristics, cultivate excellent corporate culture, and strengthen compliance management.

The second is to further highlight intelligent, green, and integrated development. In terms of intelligence, the “Plan” proposes measures to promote “artificial intelligence” in various fields such as artificial intelligence+entrepreneurship, + transformation, + management, and + services. In terms of greening, expand the scope of green products procured by the government, guide banks and insurance institutions to support small and medium-sized enterprises through green finance, and encourage large enterprises to drive upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises to jointly build a green supply chain. In terms of integration, the “Plan” proposes to support industry-university-research collaborative innovation, jointly establish innovation consortia; support large, medium, and small enterprises to integrate innovation and build a good industrial ecosystem.

Third, more emphasis is placed on hierarchical classification and precise policies. In response to the differentiated needs of different industries and types of SMEs, focus on classification policies. For traditional industrial enterprises, the “Plan” proposes to promote green and low-carbon transformation of traditional small and medium-sized enterprises and increase support for digital transformation; for enterprises in emerging and future industries, it proposes support for enterprises in emerging and future industries to explore typical application scenarios and viable business models; to provide “small, quick and easy” digital intelligence products and solutions for small and medium-sized enterprises, encourage small and medium-sized enterprises with a digital foundation to strengthen artificial intelligence applications and participate in “artificial intelligence+manufacturing”, smart factory gradient cultivation, intelligent manufacturing system solution research and application; for overseas enterprises Market docking and promotion support to strengthen the provision of brand promotion, technical communication and project promotion functions for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Q: How to organize and implement the “Plan”?

A: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will coordinate the organization and implementation to ensure that the various deployments of the “Plan” are implemented effectively.

The first is to strengthen overall guidance. All relevant departments are required to integrate the promotion of the development of small and medium-sized enterprises into the unified planning, deployment, and unified promotion of the department's central work, strengthen business guidance, and form joint efforts.

The second is to strengthen monitoring, evaluation and supervision of the implementation of plans. Improve the classification standards for small and medium-sized enterprises, strengthen statistical survey and monitoring and analysis of small and medium-sized enterprises, improve the mechanism for normalized communication between government and enterprises, carry out third-party assessments of the SME development environment in accordance with the law, standardize the management of enterprise type titles, and improve supporting policies.

The third is to strengthen publicity and guidance. Give full play to the role of think tanks for small and medium-sized enterprises, industry associations and chambers of commerce, etc., strengthen policy promotion, decision support and enterprise services, actively report on new developments and results in SME development, tell good stories about the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and create a favorable environment for the whole society to care about and support the development of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This article was selected from the “Ministry of Industry and Information Technology” official website, Zhitong Finance Editor: Feng Qiuyi.