China introduces loan interest subsidies to boost MSMEs development

China has rolled out a loan interest subsidy policy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) from Jan 1 this year, according to official documents jointly released by China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) and several other departments on Tuesday.

According to the policy, China will provide targeted support to private MSMEs across various sectors. It will focus on key industrial chains and their upstream and downstream sectors, as well as producer services, processing and emerging fields such as AI.

"The loan interest subsidy policy is designed specifically for certain key industries, making it structurally oriented. For instance, we are transitioning from mid- and low-end manufacturing to high-end manufacturing, and the digital and intelligent transformation of society is urgent. Therefore, it is crucial to implement targeted and structured policies at this moment to facilitate this transformation. By providing interest subsidies to some industries prioritized by our country, we can foster their development, reduce financing costs for these enterprises, and enhance investment in related sectors," said He Ping, vice dean of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University.

Interest subsidies will be set at 1.5 percentage points per year, with a maximum subsidy period of two years. The loan amount eligible for subsidies will be capped at 50 million yuan per borrower, with the maximum interest subsidy per borrower set at 1.5 million yuan.

The policy will initially be implemented for one year, with the possibility of extension based on actual conditions.

China introduces loan interest subsidies to boost MSMEs development

China's Shenzhou-23 crewed spaceship blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the country's northwest on Sunday, sending three astronauts to its orbiting space station.

The spaceship, atop a Long March-2F carrier rocket, lifted off from the launch site at 23:08 Beijing Time (15:08 GMT).

The crew members consist of mission commander Zhu Yangzhu, and fellow astronauts Zhang Zhiyuan and Lai Ka-ying, who is also the first astronaut from China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

In another notable first, one of the crew members is set to undertake a year-long stay aboard the space station, double the usual duration of previous Shenzhou missions.

After entering orbit, the Shenzhou-23 spaceship will perform a fast automated rendezvous and docking with the radial port of the space station core module Tianhe, forming a combination of three modules and three spacecraft.

Shenzhou-23 marks the 40th flight of China's manned spaceflight program and the seventh manned flight mission since the Tiangong space station entered its application and development phase in late 2022.

China launches Shenzhou-23 manned spaceship