Small and medium-sized enterprises are crucial to China's economy and a newly released regulation will support them by ensuring timely payments as well as their other rights and interests, officials said at a press conference held by State Council Information Office on Friday.

To help SMEs who have suffered from poor sales and plummeting turnover due to the coronavirus pandemic, China's State Council released a regulation on Tuesday, requiring government departments, public institutions and large enterprises to pay SMEs on time for their goods and services. 

The regulation, which will take effect on September 1, standardized some details in contracts to prevent payment delays in a bid to build a better business environment for SMEs.

"The regulations clearly stipulate that authorities and institutions must make payment within 30 days from the date of delivery. Even where special provisions apply, the maximum period for payment may not exceed 60 days," Liu Changchun, Director of the Second Bureau of Legislation of Ministry of Justice, said at the press conference. 

To ensure the implementation of the regulation, a complaint mechanism will be strengthened, Wang Jiangping, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said at the press conference, noting that in addition to local channels for complaint, MIIT also established an online platform for SMEs to complain about delayed payments.