“We never thought that customs data could help companies get loans until we succeeded in borrowing RMB 5 million from China Guangfa Bank Suzhou Branch under SIP’s Guanzhurong program,” said Yang Hua, CFO of Suzhou Qutu Thermal Control Systems Co Ltd (hereinafter referred to as Qutu), a company founded in SIP in 2006.

It is learnt that SIP Customs, SIP Economic Development Committee (SIPEDC) and several financial institutions launched the Guanzhurong program last June to allow micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises to borrow money from banks and non-bank financial institutions based on their credit at SIP Customs while enjoying subsidies from SIPEDC for their costs and interest payment. This aims to give the enterprises a leg up in their financing.

Qutu intends to use the unsecured loan to pay customs duties and support its operations. It is worth mentioning that, for loans under the program, the lenders use loan prime rate instead of the benchmark lending rate to reduce enterprises’ borrowing costs.

An official at SIP Customs said the customs credit-based loan granting mechanism also saves lenders costs and efforts in dealing with loan applications and lowers risks for them.

The latest statistics show that the program thus far has helped 29 enterprises get approvals from banks and other financial institutions for loans totaling RMB 1.855 billion.