China beefs up financial support for trade

China's central bank on Wednesday called for more financing channels for the country's import and export businesses, in efforts to stabilize foreign trade.

Commercial banks are urged to innovate their products and services, such as expanding borrowing to companies on export credit insurance, and more flexibility in lending to enterprises' short and medium-term capital needs, said the People's Bank of China (PBoC), the central bank.

Qualified enterprises will be encouraged to issue bonds, with small and medium-sized firms also having the option to issue collective bonds, according to a PBoC statement.

Qualified financial leasing companies will be encouraged to issue bonds in efforts to increase financing channels, the statement said.

Meanwhile, banks are urged to further simplify their procedures while providing transaction services for cross-border trade and investment, according to the statement.

The central bank said that the measures were announced following a cabinet document issued last month, which called upon support to stabilize growth of foreign trade and job creation, as businesses come under pressure to increase exports.

Official data showed that China's exports rose 7 percent year on year to 195 billion U.S. dollars in May, compared to a 0.9 percent increase in April and sharp declines in March and February.