-+ 0.00%

Central Bank: Strengthen the disclosure of accounts payable information and continue to support enterprises to replace accounts payable through loans and bond issuance

Zhitongcaijing·09/14/2026 08:49:02

Listen to the news

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on September 14, the Information Office of the State Council held a routine briefing on the State Council's policies to introduce the work related to strengthening the management of repayment difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises. Cao Yuanyuan, director of the Financial Markets Department of the People's Bank of China, said at the meeting that the People's Bank of China will strictly comply with the requirements of the “Notice on Strengthening the Work Related to the Management of Small and Medium Enterprises Payment Difficulties” and actively cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen the management of large corporate accounts. For enterprises that issue bonds in the interbank market, it will strengthen the disclosure of accounts payable information and continue to support enterprises to replace accounts payable through loans and bond issuance. For companies with very obvious account pressure drops and account periods, it will be convenient in issuing bonds. At the same time, financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises will be further strengthened, and special actions to support the development of private enterprises and inclusive small and micro enterprises will be carried out to guide private and inclusive small and micro enterprises to reasonably grow in loan scale, steadily improve loan quality, maintain basic stability in loan interest rates and the number of high-quality customers, and further improve the service quality and efficiency of inclusive finance.

Cao Yuanyuan explained that the People's Bank of China is paying close attention to the negative impact of large enterprise arrears on the macroeconomy, industrial ecology, and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, etc., actively cooperates with relevant departments to carry out large-scale enterprise account management work, and actively supports large enterprises to promptly pay cash to small and medium-sized enterprises and other suppliers through interest-bearing debt financing such as loans and bond issuance. At the same time, the People's Bank of China is actively doing a good job in financial inclusion to ease the liquidity pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises. On the one hand, financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises will continue to be strengthened, including implementing the detailed 25 financial measures to support the private economy, carrying out financial service capacity enhancement projects, making good use of structural monetary policy tools such as supporting agriculture, supporting small and medium-sized reloans, and improving the credit enhancement system for private small and medium-sized enterprises. As of the end of June 2026, the balance of inclusive small and micro loans reached 38.5 trillion yuan. Since 2020, the average annual growth rate has been nearly 20%. On the other hand, actively promote the use of the People's Bank of China's unified registration and publicity system for real estate financing and the accounts receivable financing service platform to further facilitate the confirmation and financing of accounts receivable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

The transcript is as follows:

Zhou Jianshe, Deputy Director of the Information Bureau and press spokesman of the Information Office of the State Council:

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the State Council policy routine briefing. Recently, the General Office of the State Council issued the “Notice on Strengthening the Work Related to Managing Payment Difficulties for Small and Medium Enterprises”. To help you better understand the relevant situation, today we invite Mr. Ke Jixin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, to brief everyone on the relevant situation and answer everyone's concerns. Also attending today's briefing were Ms. Cao Yuanyuan, Director of the Financial Markets Department of the People's Bank of China; Mr. Pei Renyi, Head of the Financial Supervision and Operation Evaluation Bureau of the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission; Mr. Zhou Weijun, Director of the Credit Supervision Department of the General Administration of Market Supervision; and Mr. Guo Ruiming, Director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's Listed Company Supervision Department.

Now, I would like to ask Mr. Ko Jixin for an introduction.

Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Ke Jixin:

Thank you to the host. Good afternoon to all media friends! I am very happy to attend today's policy briefing with my colleagues from relevant departments. Thank you for your continued concern and support for the development of the SME business!

The problem of payment repayment difficulties is a “big concern” for small and medium-sized enterprises. Managing the repayment difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises relates to the healthy development of small and medium-sized enterprises, the optimization of the competitive environment in the market, and the smooth circulation of the national economy. The Party Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to it. General Secretary Xi Jinping has issued important instructions many times, pointing out that small and medium-sized enterprises are an important force in promoting innovation, promoting employment, and improving people's livelihood. It is necessary to create a favorable environment for the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, increase support for small and medium-sized enterprises; and call for normalization of the problem of enterprise arrears. Premier Li Qiang presided over an executive meeting of the State Council to study and deploy related work, and emphasized vigorously rectifying the problem of large enterprises defaulting on accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with the People's Bank of China, the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission and other departments, resolutely implemented the decisions and arrangements of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, focused on managing the difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises in repayment, revised and issued laws, regulations and related policy documents such as the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law” and “Regulations to Guarantee Payment of Funds for Small and Medium Enterprises”, and put forward clear requirements for large enterprises to pay their accounts to small and medium-sized enterprises in a timely manner. As the work progresses, we have also noticed that some large enterprises “roll up the price” of their peers and at the same time use their competitive advantage position in the market to “get tricky and play tricks” to lengthen the accounting period for small and medium-sized enterprises. This not only crowds out the cash flow of small and medium-sized enterprises and affects the normal operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, but also affects the healthy development of the industry and the construction of a social credit system, and hampers the smooth circulation of the national economy. There is an urgent need for special measures to carry out special rectification.

Recently, after review and approval by the executive meeting of the State Council, the General Office of the State Council issued and announced the “Notice on Strengthening the Work Related to the Management of Small and Medium Enterprises Difficulties in Repayment Problems”. The “Notice” adheres to problem orientation. Based on in-depth research and listening to the opinions of enterprises, the “Notice” proposes 10 specific measures in 4 areas based on improving industry account payment rules, focusing on strengthening the supervision of payment behavior of large enterprises, standardized management of non-cash payment instruments, and strengthening capital transmission efficiency and financing support as a guarantee. The main ones include the following:

The first is to improve industry account payment rules. It is proposed to clarify reasonable accounting periods by industry, formulate and improve settlement and payment management regulations in line with the actual situation in the industry, clarify the “four key elements of payment”; request the publication of timely payment initiatives for large enterprises, and push leading enterprises to take the lead in implementing the “60-day current commitment”.

The second is to strengthen supervision of the payment practices of large enterprises. It is proposed to carry out joint interviews and rectify large enterprises that deliberately lengthen account periods; strictly enforce anti-unfair competition laws against large enterprises that abuse their competitive advantage; improve and refine account disclosure requirements for listed companies and large enterprises; and play an exemplary role for central enterprises and state-owned enterprises in making timely payments.

The third is to standardize the management of non-cash payment instruments. It is proposed to standardize the management of the electronic certificate business, reduce the maximum payment period for electronic vouchers to 6 months; strictly supervise the electronic certificate service platform, and require the platform to operate in accordance with the law.

Fourth, strengthen the efficiency of capital transmission and financing support. It is proposed to unblock the capital transmission chain; support large enterprises to replace accounts payable with financing, and promptly pay cash to upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises.

The “Notice” specifically emphasizes that all relevant departments in all regions should strengthen work coordination, strengthen vertical coordination, consolidate responsibilities and continue to advance, insist on guiding correction and law enforcement and accountability, promote the overall improvement of the problem of small and medium-sized enterprises in repayment difficulties, and create a good ecosystem for integrated development, mutual benefit and win-win situation for large, medium, and small enterprises.

Let me introduce these things first. Next, I will answer questions from reporters and friends together with comrades from relevant departments. Thank you all.

Zhou Jianshe:

Thank you, Vice Minister Ke Jixin, for the introduction. Now, please raise your hands and ask your news agency before asking questions.

CCTV Finance Correspondent of China Central Radio and Television:

The “Notice” issued recently proposes improving industry account payment rules, clarifying reasonable account periods by industry, clarifying the four key elements of payment, and guiding large enterprises to limit the maximum payment period to 60 days. What are the relevant considerations for introducing this initiative, and how will implementation be promoted? Thank you.

Ke Jixin:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. We believe that promoting timely payment of accounts by enterprises in the industry and ensuring the smooth flow of enterprise capital chains is a proper meaning and inevitable requirement for improving the resilience and safety level of the industrial chain supply chain and modernizing the industry's governance system and governance capacity. Currently, most industries have yet to introduce specific settlement and payment rules. Some large enterprises use this “loophole” to abuse their competitive advantage in the market and deliberately lengthen the accounts of upstream and downstream SMEs through related methods such as blurring account period starting points, delaying acceptance or settlement, and misusing commercial bills of exchange and electronic accounts receivable certificates (electronic vouchers for short), making it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to repay payments. The “Notice” suggests that relevant industry authorities should formulate and improve the industry's settlement and payment regulations, and clarify key elements such as account period starting points, account payment methods and procedures, goods and services inspection and acceptance (or project completion settlement) standards and deadlines, and maximum payment terms. These are the “four key elements of payment” I mentioned earlier. These four elements point to clarifying and treating the symptoms. By regulating the “four key elements of payment” and promoting inclusion in contract model texts, they fill the “gaps” currently existing in settlement and payment management in various industries, not only delineate clear boundaries for large enterprises to pay accounts in a timely manner, but also allow small and medium-sized enterprises to keep an eye on when and how they can receive repayments. By continuing to promote institution-building and improving long-term mechanisms, the problem of repayment difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises will gradually be fundamentally addressed.

At the same time, the “Notice” actively guides large enterprises to reduce the maximum payment period for small and medium-sized enterprises to less than 60 days. The act of leading enterprises to pay accounts in a timely manner will play a leading role in the entire industrial chain and enterprises within the entire industry. The “Notice” requires relevant industry authorities to issue timely payment initiatives, guide leading enterprises in the industry to take the lead in issuing and implementing the “60-day present commitment”, and encourage leading enterprises to pay small and medium-sized enterprises by means of cash payments within 60 days from the date of delivery of goods, projects, and services. Of course, cash payments here also include instant payment methods such as bank transfers. By guiding leading companies to take the lead and take the lead, the entire industry is driven to form a good ecosystem of timely payments.

Thank you.

First Financial Correspondent:

The “Notice” mentions that the focus should be on large enterprises with large accounts payable and abundant cash assets. How should this be understood? Thank you.

Cao Yuanyuan, Director of the Financial Markets Department of the People's Bank of China:

Thank you to the reporter friend for the question. I will answer this question. I am from the People's Bank of China. Over the past few years, we have discovered that in order to save financial costs and gain a competitive advantage, some large enterprises use their industrial advantage to delay payments to suppliers. This not only harms the interests of SME suppliers, but also intensifies “internal volume” competition and the imbalance between supply and demand at the macro level. In particular, judging from public financial data, some large enterprises have relatively large accounts payable, but at the same time, they are very rich in cash assets. This shows that they are able to make timely payments, but they have not made payments. From a financial macro perspective, large enterprises expand interest-free liabilities such as accounts payable, and those small and medium-sized enterprises that are squeezed out of cash flow have to make loans to banks. In fact, these small and medium-sized enterprises bear the financing costs passed on to large enterprises. This structural mismatch has also had an adverse impact on the transmission of monetary policy.

The People's Bank of China closely monitors the negative impact of large enterprise arrears on the macroeconomy, industrial ecology, and operation of small and medium-sized enterprises, etc., actively cooperates with relevant departments to carry out large-scale enterprise account management work, and actively supports large enterprises to promptly pay cash to small and medium-sized enterprises and other suppliers through interest-bearing debt financing such as loans and bond issuance. At the same time, the People's Bank of China is actively doing a good job in financial inclusion to ease the liquidity pressure on small and medium-sized enterprises. On the one hand, we are continuing to strengthen financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises, including implementing the detailed 25 financial measures to support the private economy, carrying out financial service capacity enhancement projects, making good use of structural monetary policy tools such as supporting agriculture, supporting small and medium-sized reloans, and improving the credit enhancement system for private small and medium-sized enterprises. As of the end of June 2026, the balance of inclusive small and micro loans reached 38.5 trillion yuan. Since 2020, the average annual growth rate has been nearly 20%. On the other hand, we are actively promoting the use of the People's Bank of China's unified registration and publicity system for real estate financing and the accounts receivable financing service platform to further facilitate the confirmation and financing of accounts receivable for small and medium-sized enterprises.

In the next step, the People's Bank of China will strictly comply with the requirements of the “Notice” and actively cooperate with relevant departments to strengthen the management of large corporate account issues. For enterprises that issue bonds in the interbank market, we will strengthen the disclosure of accounts payable information and continue to support enterprises to replace accounts payable through loans and bond issuance. For companies with very obvious account pressure drops and account periods, it will be convenient in issuing bonds. At the same time, we will further increase financing support for small and medium-sized enterprises, carry out special financial actions to support the development of private enterprises and inclusive small and micro enterprises, guide the reasonable growth of private and inclusive small and micro enterprise loan scale, steady improvement in loan quality, maintain basic stability in loan interest rates and the number of high-quality customers, and further improve the service quality and efficiency of inclusive finance.

Thank you.

Sichuan Taiwan Sichuan Watch Reporter:

The “Notice” requires giving full play to the exemplary role of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises in making timely payments. How can the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission promote the implementation of related work? Thank you.

Pei Renquan, head of the Financial Supervision and Operation Evaluation Bureau of the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission:

Thank you for your question, I'm here to answer your question. In the national economic cycle, all links influence each other and are intertwined. The vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises play an important role in the production and operation of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises, giving full play to the payment example role of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises to help solve the problem of small and medium-sized enterprises in repayment difficulties. I think this is not only a clear requirement of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, but also an unshirkable responsibility of central enterprises and state-owned enterprises.

Over the years, the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission has continued to step up its supervision, push central enterprises to strictly regulate payment practices, and strive to “pay as much as possible and quickly” for small and medium-sized enterprises. This time, the “Notice” puts forward special requirements for central enterprises to play an exemplary role. The vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises are also looking forward to it, and we also feel that we have a great responsibility. To this end, we will hold an all-central enterprise promotion meeting this week to fully promote the “Notice”. I think it will mainly push central enterprises to take the lead in three areas.

The first to take the lead is to take the lead in not defaulting on arrears. Ensuring the “dynamic zeroing” of default arrears is the bottom line we have proposed to central enterprises that they must strictly abide by. Currently, many enterprises are facing cyclical difficulties in the industry. In particular, the capital turnover difficulties of some small and medium-sized enterprises are even more prominent. Central enterprises will actively raise funds for discovered default arrears based on the principles of collaborative development, equality and mutual benefit between large, medium, and large enterprises to ensure timely payment.

The second leader is to take the lead in invoicing less and paying more. Since 2024, we have required central enterprises to use cash payment methods for small and medium-sized enterprises, and in the future, it is even more important to implement cash payments to small and medium-sized enterprises as a “hard lever.” At the same time, central enterprises will also maintain a reasonable cash payment ratio for other large enterprises in line with their own reality, promote the transmission of cash payments along the business chain, and strictly manage the use of “tickets”, and strictly prohibit issuing “tickets” for more than 6 months.

The third way to take the lead is to take the lead in breaking unreasonable rules and practices. The relevant departments will formulate and improve payment and settlement management regulations and information disclosure requirements for various industry sectors. We will urge and guide central enterprises to take the lead in complying with the regulations in their industry sectors, take the lead in clarifying the “four key elements” in the contract, take the lead in responding to and implementing the industry's timely payment initiatives, take the initiative to disclose information, and consciously accept the supervision of the whole society.

There is another issue here, which I think is probably also something that the vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises are concerned about. That is, if a central enterprise is in arrears, who should report it? Where can I make a complaint? In order to make it easier for SMEs to report arrears, we have been working to clear channels for complaints from SMEs in recent years. At the level of central enterprises, we clearly require that each central enterprise group must publish channels for receiving complaints on its official website. At the level of the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission, in January 2025, we launched a central enterprise arrears complaint platform “QR code” on the official website of the State Council's State-owned Assets Administration Commission. At the national level, there is also a national complaint platform for defaulting on payments to small and medium-sized enterprises set up by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The vast majority of small and medium-sized enterprises can file complaints through any of these platforms. We will urge central enterprises to verify and handle them in strict accordance with laws, regulations and contract agreements, and respond quickly, and verify, settle, and hold back default arrears, and if there are differences, we will also urge central enterprises to step up communication and coordination efforts to promote high-quality, efficient, and low-cost resolution, and resolve disputes at the grassroots level and resolve conflicts on the front line as much as possible.

At the same time, we will also guide local state-owned assets commissions in accordance with the requirements of the “Notice” to push local state-owned enterprises to continue to regulate their own payment practices, give full play to the exemplary role of state-owned enterprises, and actively make due contributions to alleviating the financial difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises. Thank you.

China Business Daily Reporter:

Section 15 was added to the newly revised Anti-Unfair Competition Law. Since it was implemented in October last year, it has received widespread attention from all sectors of society. Excuse me, in the next step, how will the General Administration of Market Regulation strengthen the supervision of payment behavior of large enterprises? Thank you.

Zhou Weijun, Director of the Credit Supervision Department of the General Administration of Market Regulation:

Thank you for your question, I'm here to answer your question. In recent years, “internal rolling” competition in some industries has intensified. Some large enterprises use their dominant position in terms of capital, technology, trading channels, and industry influence to squeeze small and medium-sized enterprises downstream of the industrial chain and supply chain and default on SME accounts for goods, projects, services, etc. This unreasonable cost transfer not only squeezes the living space of small and medium-sized enterprises, but may also weaken the resilience and vitality of the entire industrial chain and supply chain. The addition of Article 15 of the “Anti-Unfair Competition Law of the People's Republic of China” clearly stipulates the above acts. We think it is of great significance. It helps improve the survival and development of small and medium-sized enterprises, helps promote operators to establish a correct concept of competition, and helps to empower high-quality economic development.

The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to resolving the problem of arrears in corporate accounts. The General Administration of Market Supervision has resolutely implemented it. Regarding the implementation of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, we have mainly carried out the following two areas of work:

The first task is mainly to strengthen the promotion of laws. Draft and formulate enforcement guidelines relating to Article 15 of the Anti-Unfair Competition Law to help provincial market supervisory authorities correctly understand the law and apply the law accurately. <反不正当竞争法>At the same time, we also issued the “Notice of the General Administration of Market Supervision on Further Implementation”, which focuses on preventing arrears of accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises by large enterprises and other operators, with emphasis on implementation.

The second item is mainly to strengthen supervision and enforcement. Deploy and carry out a special anti-unfair competition enforcement operation in 2026, with large enterprises abusing their dominant position to default on accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises as key enforcement elements. Together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the People's Bank of China and other departments, we conducted interviews with some enterprises with large accounts and long account periods. Investigations were conducted with some leading automobile companies, and urged and reminded that these companies should abide by the requirements of relevant laws and regulations to avoid abusing their dominant position to default on their accounts. Guide local market supervisory authorities to investigate and judge relevant leads in a timely manner, investigate and inspect the parties concerned, request the large enterprises concerned to carry out rectification through legal publicity, interviews and guidance, supervision and inspection, etc., and order the refund of arrears.

In the next step, the General Administration of Market Regulation will further implement the Anti-Unfair Competition Law from the following two aspects.

The first is to continue to strengthen departmental collaboration. Strengthen coordination and cooperation with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the People's Bank of China and other departments to establish working mechanisms for information sharing and regular exchanges. For large enterprises that deliberately lengthen account periods or are frequently complained about by small and medium-sized enterprises, the General Administration of Market Supervision will comprehensively use interviews, mediation, etc. with relevant departments to supervise rectification and reform, and various parties will work together to resolve the problem of small and medium-sized enterprises making repayment difficulties and reduce the risk of potential arrears.

The second task is strict anti-unfair competition enforcement. Continue to clear channels for complaints and reporting, deal with relevant leads in accordance with the law, and punish large enterprises in accordance with the law and regulations after investigation and investigation through vague accounting points and inspection and acceptance of goods and services in arrears (including project settlement) processes, including the use of commercial bills of exchange or electronic vouchers to disguise payment periods, abusing their dominant position to deliberately lengthen the billing period. What needs to be emphasized in particular is that in the “Notice on Strengthening the Work Related to the Control of Payment Difficulties in Small and Medium Enterprises”, it is clear that all industry authorities will clarify reasonable account periods and payment rules, providing a good reference for the next step in enforcing the anti-unfair competition law.

Thank you.

Dazhong News Dazhong Daily Reporter:

The “Notice” proposes to refine and improve the information disclosure rules for listed companies, and guide listed companies that have long account periods and use non-cash payments to gradually reduce account periods. What next steps will the Securities Regulatory Commission take to help SMEs resolve repayment difficulties? Thank you.

Guo Ruiming, Director of the China Securities Regulatory Commission's listed company supervision department:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. The China Securities Regulatory Commission attaches great importance to the repayment difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises. The main approach is to urge listed companies to do a good job of disclosing information and forming market restrictions.

Corporate accounting standards have clear requirements for disclosure of accounts receivable and accounts payable. Based on this, since 2024, the China Securities Regulatory Commission has guided the Shanghai and Shenzhen-Beijing Stock Exchange to issue guidelines on the disclosure of sustainable development reports of listed companies. The purpose is to further strengthen the disclosure of accounts payable and require listed companies that disclose sustainable development reports to disclose overdue accounts more specifically. Specifically, the focus is on two types of businesses:

One category is a listed company that has overdue payments to SMEs. Where a company has disclosed information on overdue payments to small and medium-sized enterprises to the public through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System, it shall disclose the amount of overdue SME payments, account period settings, causes and solutions in the sustainable development report.

The second category is listed companies with large accounts payable balances. Large accounts payable are an important source of overdue dates. Listed companies with large amounts of accounts payable or a high share of total assets should disclose overdue amounts and proposed solutions. As of the end of April this year, out of the listed companies that have disclosed sustainability reports in the Shanghai and Shenzhen markets, more than 100 listed companies have disclosed how small and medium-sized enterprises are treated equally as required.

At the same time, we are also concerned that a significant number of listed companies are also small and medium-sized enterprises, and are also facing repayment problems. Resolving repayment issues for small and medium-sized enterprises will also help promote the improvement of the quality of listed companies. In the next step, the China Securities Regulatory Commission will “take both hands” in accordance with the requirements of the “Notice”. On the one hand, refine disclosure requirements, guide listed companies to reduce account periods, and make timely payments to small and medium-sized enterprises. On the other hand, efforts to visit listed companies will be stepped up to help listed small and medium-sized enterprises solve repayment problems and ease pressure on cash flow. Thank you.

Pengpai News Reporter:

We know that under the impetus of key enterprises, the overall billing period situation in China's automobile industry has gradually improved. As the competent department in charge of the industry, what kind of work will the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology take next to optimize the accounting period situation in the automobile industry? Thank you.

Ke Jixin:

Let me answer that question. Thank you so much for your attention to this issue. We also believe that for some time now, the payment period for accounts paid by automobile company suppliers has been too long. We also believe that this is a typical sign of irrational competition, increasing the operating pressure on suppliers, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, and affecting the stability of the industrial chain, supply chain, and smooth economic circulation. Since last year, automobile companies have implemented the requirements of the “Regulations on Safeguarding Payment for Small and Medium Enterprises” and have responded positively to the Automobile Supplier Association's “Auto Vehicle Enterprise Supplier Account Standardized Payment Initiative”. Seventeen key car companies have taken the lead in committing accounts for no more than 60 days, and actively promoted implementation during the process. Judging from research by industry agencies, the average account period for key automobile companies has improved so far. The payment ratio of electronic vouchers for accounts payable is the electronic certificate I just mentioned. The payment ratio has been reduced markedly, and the overall account period situation has gradually improved.

However, it is also important to note that there is still a gap between the current average billing period of domestic car companies and the expectations of a large number of upstream and downstream enterprises in the industrial chain, especially the vast number of small and medium-sized enterprises. After analysis, we also think there is room for improvement. For example, due to the differences in the starting time of the accounting period for different companies, the settlement nodes I mentioned earlier have different statements, resulting in a gap between the actual account period and the “nominal account period”; the acceptance conditions are unclear, and the period is very long, and there are situations where the account period is extended in disguise. These situations require us to persevere, work hard for a long time, and continue to advance in the spirit of “nailing the nail”.

On the basis of summarizing the work carried out some time ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the General Administration of Market Supervision jointly issued the “Notice on Promoting Automobile Companies to Standardize Supplier Account Payments and Optimize Account Period Management”. The “Notice” further clarifies the relevant situation, in particular requirements for account period settlement, acceptance, payment, etc., and establishes a normalized supervision and inspection working mechanism to promote the improvement of the level of standardization and institutionalization of account payments. In the next step, we also have two key tasks to do: the first is to continue to consolidate the results of existing account period optimization, guide third party agencies to establish a research and evaluation mechanism for car companies' account period commitments, and normalize the hierarchical evaluation of account period operation. The second is to strengthen collaborative supervision. There are large scale accounts payable, and there are enterprises that deliberately lengthen account periods or have received many complaints. We need to conduct joint interviews and supervise their rectification to push for the actual implementation of the two “Notice” requirements.

Thank you.

Lightning News Reporter:

We are aware that since the “Regulations on Guaranteeing Payment of Funds for Small and Medium Enterprises” came into effect in 2020, the requirement for large enterprises to publish information on overdue payments to SMEs in their annual reports has been in place for many years. May I ask the General Administration of Market Regulation, what significance does this system have in promoting the settlement of arrears? What are the next steps to consider? Thank you.

Zhou Weijun:

Thank you for your question. The “Regulations on Guaranteeing Payment of Funds for Small and Medium Enterprises” were promulgated in July 2020 and came into effect on September 1, 2020. Starting from January 1, 2021, large enterprises will include information on the number and amount of overdue contracts for SME payments in accordance with the requirements of the regulations and publicize them through the National Enterprise Credit Information Publicity System. It should be said that the core concept of these systems is to “establish a payment information disclosure system,” which does not directly interfere with corporate payment decisions, but rather transforms contract performance that was originally known only to the parties to the transaction into publicly verifiable corporate credit information. Through information disclosure, multiple supervisory pressures from banks, suppliers, partners, and even the public are formed to fundamentally resolve the problem of information closure caused by unequal status between parties to the transaction, force large enterprises to actively fulfill payment obligations through market-based and rule-of-law methods, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Since the implementation of this system, the General Administration of Market Supervision has been steadily promoting the publication of annual reports of large enterprises, focusing on the following two areas of work to ensure the implementation of the system.

The first aspect is to take more measures and do a good job of publicizing the annual report. The General Administration of Market Regulation has held two consecutive “Annual Report Service Month for Business Entities” campaign to continue to carry out the “Annual Report Service Entering Enterprise” campaign, do a good job of supervising, reminding, and providing services for large enterprises to truthfully fill in information on the number and amount of contracts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises in accordance with the law, and inform large enterprises of the legal consequences of not having annual reports. The list of large enterprises formed by relevant departments in accordance with the classification standards for large enterprises is sent to provincial market supervision departments at all levels to help the grassroots level accurately supervise and efficiently promote the implementation of annual reports.

The second aspect is deepening collaborative investigation and disposal of leads. We generally distribute information leads on accounts owed by large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises transferred by relevant departments to the local authorities, guide local market supervisory authorities to urge relevant enterprises to fulfill their publicity obligations, and achieve “full publicity should be made public.” After the annual report work is completed, large enterprises that have not disclosed relevant annual report information in accordance with the law are included in the list of business anomalies and synchronized to the relevant departments, forming a closed loop of work.

In the next step, the General Administration of Market Regulation will continue to deepen the publication of the annual reports of large enterprises, combine the ongoing “double random” spot checks of information published on the annual reports of large enterprises, further increase the proportion of spot checks on information published in the annual reports of large enterprises, improve the content of spot checks, and supervise and guide local market supervision departments to carry out detailed checks on information published by large enterprises to prevent concealment or omission of reports. At the same time, strengthen information sharing and coordination with relevant departments, establish accounts and classify management of clues handed over by relevant departments on accounts owed by large enterprises to small and medium-sized enterprises, and promptly issue territorial organizations for inspection in accordance with the law. Large enterprises found to have untruthfully publicized information on overdue accounts owed to small and medium-sized enterprises in their annual reports were included in the list of business anomalies in accordance with the law, so that “all differences should be listed” and “all differences should be publicized”, giving full play to the deterrent effect of credit supervision. Thank you.

Zhou Jianshe:

There are also two journalists.

Guangdong Radio and Television Reporter:

The “Notice” proposes to standardize the management of electronic accounts receivable certificate services and strictly supervise electronic certificate service platforms. How was this deployment made and what steps have been taken? Thank you.

Cao Yuanyuan:

Thank you for your question, I'll answer that question. An electronic certificate of accounts receivable is an electronic record issued by core enterprises using an electronic certificate service platform to promise future payments within a certain period of time. Banks and financial institutions use this electronic record to provide financing services to upstream and downstream suppliers of the core enterprise. The account certificate business initially developed naturally. Because account vouchers have the characteristics of split circulation and convenient financing, the scale has grown very rapidly in recent years. At its peak, there were more than 200 electronic certificate service platforms in the entire market, and the balance of electronic vouchers issued reached 3 trillion yuan, involving many core enterprises and upstream and downstream suppliers, which had a great impact. However, in the early stages of development, the account certificate business was not sufficiently regulated. Some core enterprises used account vouchers to delay payments and lengthen account periods, and management regulations for service platforms were lacking. While some core enterprises saved their own financial costs by opening accounts and greatly delaying payments, on the other hand, charged relatively high financing service fees to suppliers holding account certificates, and some core enterprises even provided high-interest financing and earned interest on suppliers through their own affiliated factoring companies.

The People's Bank of China, together with the General Administration of Financial Supervision and other departments, jointly issued the “Notice on Matters Related to Regulating Supply Chain Financial Services and Guiding Supply Chain Information Service Agencies to Better Serve SME Financing” in April of last year, guiding the China Internet Finance Association to introduce self-regulatory rules and standardize the management of account certificate business. Over the past year, related work has achieved positive results. First, the scale of the account certificate business has declined significantly. As of the end of July this year, the balance of account certificates in the entire market was 2.4 trillion yuan, down 20% from more than 3 trillion yuan before regulation.

Second, the payment certificate period has been significantly shortened. The policy stipulates that in principle, the payment period for account vouchers should be within 6 months. The “Notice” just issued this time further strictly restricts that account vouchers can only be issued within 6 months. At the same time, commercial banks are also required to step up the review of the rationality of account periods and carefully carry out financing services for account documents. By the end of July, the average term of an account certificate had been shortened by 92 days compared to the same period last year before the regulation.

Third, the “eat both ends” situation I just mentioned has been effectively curbed, and some large enterprises with the “eat both ends” problem have withdrawn from the account certificate business.

Fourth, the standardization of electronic certificate service platforms is also constantly improving. Currently, under the supervision of the People's Bank of China, the main electronic certificate service platforms have begun to specify fee standards and lower the fee level. Now the average service rate has been reduced to 0.16%, and the fee level is relatively low. At the same time, risk management and control on major electronic certificate service platforms have also been further strengthened, and trade background information collection mechanisms have been established, and account certificate issuance services have been stopped for some core enterprises that have overdue defaults. Currently, 145 platforms in the entire market that do not meet compliance requirements have withdrawn or promised to exit soon.

In the next step, in accordance with the requirements of the “Notice” issued this time, the People's Bank of China will continue to strictly control the term of account vouchers, further strengthen the supervision of electronic certificate service platforms, push core enterprises to pay cash in a timely manner, ease the repayment difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises, and help smooth the macroeconomic cycle.

Thank you.

Zhou Jianshe:

One last question.