The Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Tuesday released a package of measures to spur private investment and consumption, including a special guarantee programme for corporate lending and interest subsidies for personal consumption loans.

This special guarantee programme, with a total scale of 500 billion yuan, is aimed at supporting private investment by micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, according to official documents jointly released by the MOF and several other departments.

Implemented through the National Financing Guarantee Fund over a two-year period, the programme will cover not only medium- and long-term loans, but also financing needs related to daily operations, such as factory expansion, shop renovations and working capital.

Meanwhile, the ministry will roll out a loan interest subsidy policy for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, covering newly issued fixed-asset loans and funds provided by the government's new policy-based financial instruments from January 1.

The policy will focus on key industrial chains and their upstream and downstream sectors, as well as producer services.

Interest subsidies will be set at 1.5 percentage points per year, with a maximum subsidy period of two years. The loan amount eligible for subsidies will be capped at 50 million yuan per borrower, with the maximum interest subsidy per borrower set at 1.5 million yuan.

The policy will initially be implemented for one year, with the possibility of extension based on actual conditions.

In a move to bolster consumption, the MOF on Tuesday also optimised and extended existing interest subsidy policies for loans to business entities in the service sector and for personal consumption loans to the end of 2026.

The service-sector loan subsidy policy, notably, has expanded coverage to digital, green and retail sectors, with the maximum loan amount eligible for subsidies per borrower raised from one million yuan to 10 million yuan and the subsidy cap increased to 100,000 yuan.

The personal consumption loan subsidy policy will include credit card instalment services, removing sectoral restrictions.

In addition, the MOF has improved its loan interest subsidy policy for equipment upgrades. The updated policy expands support from loans used solely for equipment purchases to equipment upgrades, and incorporates eligible technology innovation loans newly issued from 2026.

China, the National Development and Reform Commission said, is also researching the establishment of a national-level mergers and acquisitions fund as part of efforts to optimize the layout of government investment funds and strengthen guidance over their investment direction in an attempt to accelerate the development of "new quality productive forces".

The commission said in a press conference that the country would formulate and release an implementation plan this year for its strategy to expand domestic demand between 2026 and 2030.

The 15th Five-Year Plan for this period, expected to be approved in March, will implement policies to address this key issue, the commission's deputy head, Wang Changlin, said, adding that "the current economy faces the problem of strong supply but weak demand".

The commission, he vowed, would "create new demand through new supply and provide strong innovative measures". (Xinhua and agencies)
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Last updated: 2026-01-20 HKT 14:45