The People's Bank of China has added CNY 100 billion in relending quota for agriculture and small businesses to support flood control, disaster relief and post-disaster reconstruction. The measure is intended to guide and encourage financial institutions to increase lending to business entities in disaster-affected areas, with particular emphasis on micro and small enterprises, sole proprietors, agricultural and aquaculture businesses, and farmers. The additional support is targeted at affected regions including Guangxi, Hubei, Gansu and Zhejiang. The central bank said it will next require its branches in the relevant provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities to make effective use of the added relending quota and to guide financial institutions in actively matching financing to the needs of businesses in the disaster-hit areas.