A Chinese industry association for small and medium-sized businesses said Monday it plans to establish a three-billion-yuan (440 million dollars) venture capital fund for its members.
The fund is part of efforts to help small businesses weather the financial crisis along with establishing a bank dedicated to small and medium-sized businesses, the association said in a statement.
The fund will be established by the year end and money will be raised through private equity, according to the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises' website.
Industrial companies with sales revenue of up to 300 million yuan would be eligible for assistance from the fund and the bank, the head of the association Li Zibin told the official Xinhua news agency.
Difficulty raising capital has been a major threat to the small and medium sized businesses' survival, he was cited as saying.
About 67,000 small and medium sized companies with sales exceeding 5 million yuan closed down in the first half of 2008 due to the economic slowdown and a tight monetary policy, Xinhua reported, citing statistics from the National Development and Reform Committee.
China to cut tariffs up to 30 percent: report
China will reduce tariffs on agricultural and non-agricultural products by 20 to 30 percent, state media reported Monday, citing a senior trade diplomat.
The move is to help boost global trade amid the international financial crisis, the China Securities Journal said, citing Zhang Xiangchen, a senior envoy at the Chinese Permanent Mission to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Zhang was not quoted as giving any timetable for when the cuts would take place.
It was not clear if the tariff cuts would affect all products imported by China. A Chinese commerce ministry official contacted by AFP Monday said she was unable to clarify the matter.
The average tariff on agricultural products now is 15.2 percent, compared with 54 percent before China entered the WTO in 2001, the report said.
A surge in imports from China could have potentially huge significance for the global economy, as it is now the world's third-largest importer after the United States and Germany.
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