Vice-Premier Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and head of the State Council's leading group on the development of small and medium-sized enterprises, hosted the group's seventh meeting on Jan 21 to promote high-quality and stable development of SMEs.

The meeting heard reports from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Finance, People's Bank of China and the Ministry of Commerce, and speeches from the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and other departments.

The meeting called for targeted support to enterprises that are being challenged by insufficient market demand and rising costs of raw materials and labor, amid uncertainties brought by the COVID-19 pandemic and the world economy.

SMEs are fundamental to economic resilience, playing an important role in securing market entities and employment, and key to improving stability and competitiveness of industrial and supply chains. They can help solve technology bottlenecks and construct a new development pattern, according to the meeting.

The meeting stressed better policies, services and development environment for SMEs, making efforts in easier financing, better rights and interest protections, improving innovation and their professional levels.

The meeting also called for efforts to solve the most practical difficulties for SMEs and ensure continuity, stability and sustainability of policies. It also urged improving financial institutions, more engagement from governments at all levels and prioritized business environment.

It is also important to conduct long-term research in this regard, guide the society to form positive expectations, and mobilize all forces to jointly carry out the policies, the meeting said.