OREANDA-NEWS. November 01, 2011. As a major domestic bank servicing small enterprises, Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) has long been committed to promoting the development of small enterprises by innovating credit measures, strengthening credit support and improving financial services for small enterprises, reported the press-centre of ABC.

Take effective measures at appropriate time: Apple loan is a timely help
According to the features of agricultural product processing enterprises, ABC became the first domestic bank to initiate "mortgage loans against special agricultural products for county SMEs". To use agricultural products for collaterals has resolved the difficulty in financing guarantee for agricultural product processing enterprises. Lately, ABC Yantai Sub-branch of Shandong granted an "Apple Loan" of RMB10 million to Penglai Liansheng Fruits and Vegetables Company Ltd. This is the first chattel mortgage loan of the branch and the first “apple mortgage loan” in ABC Shandong Branch.

"Apple Loan" is a way of cooperative financing between multiple parties, in which enterprises sign the Mortgage Supervision Agreement with the qualified supervision company recognized by ABC. It introduces third-party supervision and takes stored apples as collaterals.
Famous for well-known red Fuji apples, Yantai is China’s largest economic cultivation zone and export base of apples. Apples become ripe in season every September and October, when deep processing enterprises for apples face the greatest financial pressure. Therefore, Yantai Sub-branch focuses on innovating new products to meet those enterprises’ fund demand. “Apple Loan” has explored a way of taking commodity agricultural and sideline products as collaterals for chattel mortgage, thus satisfying customers’ financing demand.

Take actions appropriate to local conditions: Specialized institutions serve local feature industries

Giving full play to its advantages of numerous outlets and wide urban and rural coverage, ABC has set up a specialized financial service system for small enterprises. It has had an organizational system for professional management of small enterprise financial services, which involves all units from the Head Office to outlets and covers the whole country by relying on its widespread outlets. Now ABC has 1,052 institutions exclusively for providing differentiated and professional financial services to small enterprises, particularly county ones. Outstanding small enterprise loans of these institutions account for 72% of ABC’s total small enterprise loans.
In recent years, ABC Yunnan Branch has kept increasing support to small enterprises by carefully studying the economic development trends, financial ecology, customer distribution and features of financial needs within its jurisdiction, analyzing the market and preparing differentiated customer marketing programs.

The branch has supported outstanding small corporate customers in industries under the state’s adjustment and invigoration plans, high and new technology industries, competitive industries with regional characteristics and emerging industries with bright prospect. Meanwhile, it has also provided greater support to the following small enterprises: upstream and downstream supporting ones for large enterprises in competitive industries, competitive ones in industrial clusters, characteristic ones with specialized operation, export-oriented ones with outstanding performance, service-oriented ones with obvious brand advantages and scientific and technological ones having core technologies.

To raise the level of financial services and promote business development, Yunnan Branch has set up 10 financial service institutions for small enterprises in such tier-2 branches as Qujing Sub-branch and Yuxi Sub-branch who have favorable financial ecology, abundant financial resources for small enterprises and higher level of operation and management. Besides, Yunnan Branch has improved the approval efficiency for small enterprise credit by simplifying the relevant process.

While boosting the development of small enterprise financial services, Yunnan Branch keeps strengthening risk prevention after loans and control in this regard. It has enhanced post-lending management to prevent credit risk and set up a risk warning signal system to increase the effectiveness of online supervision. Moreover, the branch sends timely risk prompt letters based on online supervision results from branches under its jurisdiction to improve the timeliness of risk monitoring.

Seek solutions to satisfy customers' demands: Meet diversified needs through business innovation

ABC has popularized financial products meeting financial needs of small enterprises and adopted preferential interest rates. Considering the demand for "short-term, small-value, frequent and urgent" loans, ABC introduced Simply Loan and other products which have been well received by small enterprises.

Since the beginning of this year, Guangxi Branch has paid close attention to the direction and focuses of the establishment of a small enterprise financing product system across ABC and actively innovated products and services based on the financing needs of local small enterprises. With definite business development goals, it has formulated and circulated loan plans for small enterprises within its jurisdiction, and then promoted their business development as planned. 2011 Main Tasks of Financial Services for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises has been formulated.

Despite limited credit scale, Guangxi Branch has given priority to SME financing by shortening as much as possible the time of “waiting for scale” in loan application and setting special credit scale for SME loans such as a credit scale of RMB2.2 billion for small enterprises.
Given the huge capital and asset differences between small enterprise customers and their diversified financial needs, Guangxi Branch has set reasonable terms for small enterprise working capital loans and provided a package of financial products such as short-term working capital loans, bill acceptance and bill discount as well as quality services, so as to meet the circulating need of their production and operation funds. Meanwhile, it has launched self-service revolving loan product exclusively for small enterprises, which is warmly received by many small enterprises giving the uptight credit scale this year.