China pledges to boost financial support for tech innovation

China's central bank along with three other government agencies, held a meeting on Monday to discuss ways to strengthen and improve the country's tech finance work following the central financial work conference.

The People's Bank of China, along with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly held the meeting.

The importance of supporting the country's innovation-driven development strategy and allocating more financial resources to promote tech innovation was stressed at the meeting.

Further strengthening financial support for two key areas, major national tech tasks and tech-based small and medium-sized enterprises, were advocated for.

In particular, it was proposed to establish a comprehensive and multi-level tech finance service system that includes a wide range of financial products and services, such as loans, bonds, stocks, insurance, venture capital and guarantees.

The meeting also noted that recent efforts to strengthen financial support for tech innovation have yielded positive results. For example, lending to high-tech manufacturing, specialized and advanced enterprises, as well as tech startups, has continued to grow rapidly. The launch of the science and technology innovation board (STAR Market) and the Beijing Stock Exchange has also improved direct financing options for tech companies.

Monday's meeting concluded that financial institutions need to continue to strengthen their support for tech innovation. They should focus on providing more targeted, precise and effective financial services to tech companies.

It also called for the improvement of tech public information sharing and emphasized the need to balance financial support for innovation alongside risk prevention.