China pledges more funds for outsourcing industry

BEIJING - The Chinese government has pledged more aid from the country’s financial institutions to boost its outsourcing industry, officials said Wednesday.

In a statement posted on the website of the central bank Wednesday, the government urged the banks to develop more policies and credit products tailored for the outsourcing business, especially for firms in the 20 pilot cities for the industry, including Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Shanghai.

Insurance companies were also ordered to improve policies and create more insurance products for outsourcing firms.

Outsourcing companies were encouraged for listing in equity markets both at home and abroad to raise fund to increase their competitiveness. Financial authorities should roll out measures in details in line with local situations by the end of this month and put them into place.

The statement was jointly issued by the People’s Bank of China, the commerce ministry, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

As of June this year, China had 6,673 outsourcing firms employing 1.215 million people, Lin Zheying, director of the treaty and law department of the commerce ministry, said at a conference Wednesday.