People's Bank of China widens relending support for tech innovation and equipment renewal to high R and D private SMEs and 14 fields

The People's Bank of China, jointly with the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance, has issued a notice expanding the technological innovation and technical transformation relending policy to support more lending for technology innovation and large-scale equipment renewal. The changes bring private small and medium-sized enterprises with relatively high research and development spending into the policy and extend eligible technical transformation and equipment renewal loans to 14 fields, including electronic information, artificial intelligence, facility agriculture and consumer commercial facilities. The notice also calls for stronger loan services for companies buying artificial intelligence equipment and software services, alongside changes to relending disbursement and management intended to improve implementation efficiency. The three authorities will work with other departments to implement the measures, strengthen monitoring and inter-agency coordination, and direct financial resources toward technology innovation and equipment renewal.