Small and medium-sized enterprises play a strategic and fundamental role in economic and social development, especially in increasing employment opportunities, technological innovation, activating the market and promoting economic growth. However, for a long time, the financing problem of small and medium-sized enterprises has been an important restrictive factor that puzzles the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, and it is also the focus of social and government attention. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to explore the financing countermeasures of small and medium-sized enterprises in the new situation in order to enhance the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises in China and deal with domestic and foreign competition.
First, analysis of the causes of financing difficulties for SMEs
There are many reasons for the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises, including micro factors such as enterprises themselves and commercial banks, as well as macro factors such as the degree of financial development and national laws and policies. The following is a concrete analysis of these factors.
(A) Micro-cause analysis
1, SMEs' own problems. Small and medium-sized enterprises have limited scale, lack of funds, low credit level, no complete enterprise plan, high bankruptcy rate and high default rate of loan repayment. According to the survey of the People's Bank of China, by the end of 2000, 62,656 restructured enterprises had opened accounts in five banks of industry, agriculture, construction and communications, involving loan principal and interest of 579.2 billion yuan, of which 32 140 enterprises were found by financial creditor's rights management institutions, accounting for 5 1.29% of the restructured enterprises. There are many examples of small and medium-sized enterprises evading financial debts; The products of small and medium-sized enterprises are characterized by low technical content, poor quality and lack of after-sales service. And most of them use competitive price reduction. Fake and shoddy products are also related to small and medium-sized enterprises, and many product accidents are also caused by small and medium-sized enterprises. Therefore, the overall development level of SMEs is not high, which is an important reason why banks are unwilling to provide loans to SMEs.
2. Bank loan management. Due to the small demand for capital and debt of SMEs, the average cost and marginal cost of review and supervision are high, financial institutions are often reluctant to provide loans to SMEs in order to avoid adverse selection and information asymmetry. Recently, the state has repeatedly regarded reducing the non-performing assets of banks as the top priority of the reform of state-owned banks, so from the trend, the credit responsibility of commercial banks tends to be strict. For example, implement the loan management responsibility system and the main responsible person system, and implement the personal collection responsibility and main responsibility of the handling personnel; Increase the control of the non-performing rate of new loans, which will make the loan approval of small and medium-sized enterprises more strict.
3, mortgage and guarantee intermediary problems. Mortgage and guarantee are important tools for financial institutions to protect their own interests when providing loans to small and medium-sized enterprises with asymmetric and opaque information. In China, banks have strict requirements for collateral. Apart from land and real estate, banks rarely accept other forms of collateral. Moreover, many small and medium-sized enterprises are restructured from state-owned and township enterprises, and the assets of enterprises are leased or allocated, which cannot be used as mortgage assets or the mortgage rate is extremely low. The intermediary fees involved in mortgage loans include evaluation fees, registration fees, notarization fees, insurance fees, cancellation of mortgage fees and other forms. The amount of corporate loans is small, and the intermediary fees account for a large proportion of loan interest expenses, which makes many small and medium-sized enterprises discouraged; Domestic guarantee institutions and insurance institutions take their own credit as guarantee, but the scale of guarantee institutions is small and their guarantee ability is very limited. At the same time, the guarantee agency fee is very high. Some guarantee companies require enterprises to deposit 20% of the deposit into their accounts, and the handling fee is 0.2% of the guaranteed amount on a monthly basis, which has seriously dampened the enthusiasm of small and medium-sized enterprises to guarantee loans.
(B) Analysis of macro reasons
1, the state's policy towards enterprises. For a long time, the government has been giving special support to large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises in terms of capital, taxation, market development, talents, technology and information, which has caused the uncertainty of market competition environment and inequality of competition conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises. According to the survey of 500 small and medium-sized enterprises in Liaoning, only 2 1.7% enterprises can get loans from banks, and most of them are state-owned small and medium-sized enterprises. In this way, small and medium-sized enterprises have provided benefits to the society, but it is difficult to obtain the necessary financial support, and the financing supplier market cannot make them get corresponding returns. Small and medium-sized enterprises can only rely on their own internal profit accumulation to solve the problem of capital supply, or use a lot of resources in the financing market, and the financing cost will increase accordingly. At the same time, because the state actively encourages the introduction of foreign capital this year, foreign-funded enterprises in China actually enjoy a lot of "super-national treatment". For example, foreign-funded enterprises, regardless of their status, have the right to import and export commodities and can directly participate in international economic activities. Moreover, the state and local governments provide preferential treatment for foreign-funded enterprises, such as "special treatment", tax reduction and exemption, loss compensation and so on. Therefore, domestic small and medium-sized enterprises have neither national support nor preferential treatment, so they can only "survive in the cracks". National policies determine the status of small and medium-sized enterprises, so it is not surprising that small and medium-sized enterprises have difficulties in financing.
2. The domestic interest rate has not been marketized. Because the loan amount of small and medium-sized enterprises is relatively small, the information cost and supervision cost are naturally relatively high, and the loan risk to small and medium-sized enterprises is great, so it is normal and reasonable for financial institutions to charge higher interest or fees for loans to small and medium-sized enterprises. The loan interest rate of American banks to small and medium-sized enterprises is about 1 ~ 1.5 percentage points higher than that of large enterprises. However, the current regulations of the Bank of China on interest rates and fees are fixed, and the scope of free floating is very limited. This mechanism is not conducive to financial institutions to lend to SMEs. Restricting the fees charged by financial institutions for financial services and products will dampen the enthusiasm of financial institutions to investigate and collect information about SMEs, thus affecting the provision of loans and other financial services to SMEs.
3. SMEs have poor direct financing channels. Due to the restriction of entering the capital market, China's small and medium-sized enterprises are basically unable to conduct direct financing. For example, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in China requires listed companies to have a registered capital of more than 50 million yuan, which makes it difficult for small-scale enterprises with good growth efficiency to enter the securities market. At the same time, in the bond market, due to the constraints of "scale control, centralized management and hierarchical approval", it is difficult for SMEs to raise funds by issuing bonds, so there is basically no direct financing channel.
4. Lack of "second-board market" and property rights trading places for enterprise financing. Venture capital plays an important role in alleviating the funding gap of high-growth SMEs. If there is no "second board market", venture capital will not be able to recover its investment by issuing new shares, which is obviously not conducive to the development of venture capital. In addition, China still lacks a regional equity trading market, which cannot alleviate the funding gap of SMEs.
Second, the financing problems of SMEs countermeasures
(1) Enterprises themselves should make enterprise development plans on schedule, standardize management and increase information disclosure. Strictly manage product quality, operate according to law, pay taxes according to law, and strive to improve credit level; The loan principal and interest should be repaid on schedule. If it cannot be repaid, it is necessary to negotiate with the bank in detail to find a solution, so as to maintain a good credit record. At the same time, the state should strengthen the credit supervision of small and medium-sized enterprises in conjunction with industrial and commercial, taxation, judicial and financial institutions to improve the transparency and authenticity of their financial information.
(2) Establish a relatively perfect credit guarantee system to provide high-quality guarantee services for SME financing. For example, the United States has set up a permanent federal agency, the Small and Medium Enterprises Administration (SBA), to obtain loans from commercial banks on behalf of the federal government. The funds required for the guarantee are invested by the US federal government, and the amount of guarantee can reach 85% ~ 90% of the financing amount; Japan has established a credit guarantee association and a credit insurance pool. Credit guarantee companies under the Credit Guarantee Association provide guarantees for small and medium-sized enterprises to lend to commercial banks. When it is difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to repay loans, credit guarantee companies can obtain repayment funds from the credit insurance fund pool.
(3) Establish private professional financial institutions to provide financial support and quality financial services for SME financing. Germany has set up private savings banks and cooperative banks, and Japan has set up private financial institutions such as mutual banks, credit vaults and credit cooperatives. On the one hand, these private financial institutions provide loans to SMEs, and more importantly, they establish long-term relationships with SMEs, provide them with thoughtful consulting and financial services, and repay them with insurance money, thus reducing the financing risks of SMEs.
(D) Increasing financing channels is the only way for SMEs to increase their capital. While further deepening the financial and enterprise reform, the relevant state departments should open up new financing channels in time, vigorously improve the capital market structure, establish a multi-level market system, launch a new market for direct financing of small and medium-sized enterprises, appropriately lower the threshold for the issuance and listing of small and medium-sized enterprises in the new market, simplify procedures, facilitate services, improve efficiency and reduce financing costs as much as possible. Establish a broader and more standardized bond or stock trading market system and second-board market as soon as possible, and open up an OTC market system for small and medium-sized enterprises with good performance but not yet qualified for listing and trading. For the existing small financial institutions serving small and medium-sized enterprises, their right to operate independently should be protected, and they should not take over their rights in large numbers (forced merger institutions). In addition, when conditions are ripe, private investment institutions or investment funds will be set up to use social idle funds to develop the local economy, and on the basis of establishing and perfecting a complete credit system and guarantee mechanism for SMEs, financing channels for SMEs will be expanded.