Foshan Hi-tech Zone expands financial service

Foshan Hi-tech Zone (FHZ) held a financial service promotion event on Sept 2 in Nanhai Park.

Hosted by the zone's management committee and Foshan's municipal departments of finance work and market supervision, the event aimed to establish a multi-channel, multi-tier and diversified technological financing model and enhance the zone's capacity for finance support.

According to Kuang Dongming, deputy director of the management committee, the zone takes technological financing as a key measure in building a first-class business environment and propelling the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

The FHZ's plan for finance development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period was explained in detail at the event.

The zone will offer a series of innovative measures to enterprises in their different development phases from the perspectives of sci-tech innovation support, sci-tech achievement transformation support and industrial development support.

These measures include guiding banks to increase credit support, as well as financial services that will encourage sci-tech achievement transformation and strengthened incubation of unicorn enterprises. Through such measures, the zone is striving to be a world-class development zone with vitality, a national demonstration zone for industrial-financial integration and a provincial forerunner as a financial service provider for private, small and micro enterprises.

The FHZ signed cooperation agreements with a local finance guarantee company and a micro credit company at the event, which marks the launch of the first set of financing products exclusive to FHZ enterprises.

As part of a sci-tech loan to FHZ's high-growth enterprises, a maximum credit quota of 100 million yuan ($15.52 million) is open to potential or seeded unicorn enterprises shortlisted in the zone and those in core industry positions in the zone. The maximum credit amount for a single enterprise is 5 million yuan.

Another type of loan is targeted at micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises in the zone with a comprehensive guarantee amount of 500 million yuan. Each enterprise can apply for a loan of no more than 10 million yuan. The loan limit for high-tech enterprises is 20 million yuan.

In order to facilitate the efficient use of financial tools, related departments in the FHZ have established a venture capital fund and an equity investment fund. Together with other local financing institutes, they aim to provide more diversified financing tools to relieve financing hurdles for the zone's enterprises.

More platform services and financing products exclusively for FHZ enterprises are expected in the future.

This event not only provided reliable loan products to enterprises with financing needs, but also helped financing institutes gain a better understanding of the enterprises, which is conducive to solving the financing problems that these companies are facing.