Earlier, ICBC Guangdong Branch landed an over 50% jump from the beginning of the year in small business lending to more than 10,000 customers, as revealed by the reporter from ICBC today. The Branch is now the third branch with over 10,000 small business loan customers, next to Zhejiang Branch and Jiangsu Branch. The strong momentum of the small business lending is driven by the fast growth of customers. At the end of September, the small business loan outstanding of ICBC Guangdong branch reached nearly RMB 80 billion, representing an increase of over RMB 21 billion, or 37%, from the beginning of the year.

ICBC Guangdong Branch sees significant rise in both the number of customers and the balance when lending to small enterprises, an epitome of the consistent efforts by the Branch in providing financial support to small and micro enterprises in recent years. The balance of small business loans in all branches increased 174.7 billion from the beginning of the year to RMB 647.2 billion at the end of September, up by 37% or RMB 58.5 billion from the same period a year earlier, representing 4.4 times the increase of all corporate loans. The proportion of new loans to small enterprises has accounted for 44% of total new corporate loans.

An executive with ICBC said, all through the years ICBC has been focused on the financial services to small enterprises. To a large-scale commercial bank as ICBC, this is part of the Bank's social responsibility to drive the economy and society and provide job opportunities. It is also an important strategy of ICBC to adjust its own credit structure, nurture new growth pole and achieve sustainable development. In an effort to help small enterprises get over the difficulty of accessing bank loans, ICBC looks at their needs and makes consistent innovations on the financial services and products designed for small enterprises which have been warmly received. An example is the "Small Convenient Loan" which can be approved within one banking day shortest since there is no need to go over the procedures of collateral/pledge or guarantee. Since the launch of the service in Guangdong in early August, within two months ICBC Guangdong Branch has disbursed more than RMB 3 billion of "Small Convenient Loan" to 2000+ small enterprises in Guangdong, meaning over RMB 1.5 million to each small enterprise on average.

In terms of small business loan mechanism, ICBC adopts effective marketing and management measures in order to ensure the best financial services to small enterprises from all branches' strength. In the allocation of resources, this year ICBC allocates a special pool of fund for the assurance of direct loans to small businesses. With a new operation and management framework in place, special centers are set up in regions packed with small enterprises. Dedicated ICBC teams are assigned to serve small enterprises and to tap into small business market. Financial resources and incentive performance scheme are given first priority to small business centers so that the staff are motivated to serve small enterprises and at the same time working under a certain pressure. So far, ICBC has set up more than 1,400 small business centers. A professional team has been set up with 30,000+ staff passed the accreditation examination before on board serving the small enterprises.