The Rise of SMEs in China
8 min.
24. November 2021
Size Category | Industries | Employment-based | Total assets | Business revenue | |
Small | Industry | < 300 | < 40 mil. RMB | < 30 mil. RMB | |
Construction | < 600 | < 40 mil. RMB | < 30 mil. RMB | ||
Wholesale | < 100 | < 30 mil. RMB | |||
Retail | < 100 | < 10 mil. RMB | |||
Transport | < 500 | < 30 mil. RMB | |||
Post | < 400 | < 30 mil. RMB | |||
Hotel Restaurant | < 400 | < 30 mil. RMB | |||
Medium | Industry | 300 – 2000 | 40 – 400 mil. RMB | 30 – 300 mil. RMB | |
Construction | 600 – 3000 | 40 – 400 mil. RMB | 30 – 300 mil. RMB | ||
Wholesale | 100 – 200 | 30 – 300 mil. RMB | |||
Retail | 100 – 500 | 10 – 150 mil. RMB | |||
Transport | 500 – 3000 | 30 – 300 mil. RMB | |||
Post | 400 – 1000 | 30 – 300 mil. RMB | |||
Hotel Restaurant | 400 – 800 | 30 – 300 mil. RMB |
Type of NBFI | Registration Authority | Registered (year) | |
Credit guarantee companies | Provincial governments: Public Finance Office | 8,427 (2012) | |
SME Bureau, local Finance Department | |||
County governments: CBRC NBFI division | |||
Microfinance/ small loan companies | Civil Affairs Office: NGOs | 8,217 (2014) | |
Local government: Finance Office | |||
Pawn shops | ICMB, MOFCOM | 7,000 (2014) | |
Trust companies | Provincial governments (< 64%) | 68 (2014) | |
Central governments (15%) | |||
Shanghai Trust Registration Center (not enforced) | |||
CBRC | |||
Leasing companies | CBRC: domestic; MOFCOM: JVs, WFOEs | 26 (2014) | |
Rural mutual aid funds | ICMB, Poverty Alleviation Bureau | ||
P2P lending platforms | ICMB | 1,627 (2015) | |
Crowd funding platforms | ICMB | 114 (2014) |
- China’s industrial sector is focusing on climbing up the value chain and strengthening their manufacturing. Therefore, they are always looking for new opportunities to automatize and modify their supply chains to be more sufficient. The fields that provide a high chance for successful investment are industry robotics, machine tools, as well as transportation and agriculture equipment. Next to materials, there is an especially high demand for know-how on manufacturing technology.
- In China, domestic consumption is on the rise. With the growing middle class, European products enjoy an increasing demand – especially luxury products are en vogue among Chinese consumers. An important point for European companies to keep an eye on is to offer a variety of selling channels, including e-commerce.
- There is an expanding interest for outbound investment. Year by Year, more Chinese investors try to invest in other countries and economies. This creates an attractive opportunity for SMEs to address the demand for services such as specialist management consulting and financial services, or to provide private equity to venture companies and to build future-oriented business relations.