2010-06-09 09:47

BEIJING: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the nation's largest commercial lender, said on Tuesday it has provided 55.01 billion yuan ($8.09 billion) to assist small businesses during the first four months of this year in a bid to increase foreign trade among these enterprises.

Further, bank officials said the inability to re-pay for such services stands at only 0.14 percent, much lower than the industrial average.

By the end of April, the balance value of the bank' s trade finance service had totaled 77.43 billion yuan, up 34.35 percent from the start of this year.

China's small enterprises conventionally face fund shortages, which hampers their development, since lenders consider such borrowers more risky.