China Credit Insight 2: The Definition of SMEs

China’s publication on the Standards for Classification of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) were jointly promulgated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Bureau of Statistics, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Commerce on June 18, 2011.

The Standards divide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) into three categories: medium, small, and mini. The classification was established based on the factors of employee size, revenue, and assets amount with the combination of 16 industry sectors.

For example, in the heavy industry:

• Companies with less than 1000 employees or revenue below RMB 400 million are SMEs.
• Companies with more than or equal to 300 employees and revenue above or equal to  MB 20 million are medium-sized enterprises.
• Companies with more than or equal to 20 employees and revenue above or equal to RMB 3 million are small-sized enterprises
• Companies with less than 20 employees or revenue below RMB 3 million are mini-sized enterprises.

The official publication is found in the Government website:
http://www.gov.cn/zwgk/2011-07/04/content_1898747.htm
 
An unofficial English version of the publication is illustrated in the link below:
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2011/07/07/china-issues-classification-standards-for-smes.html

This Credit Insight is an extract from the book Happy Customers Faster Cash, China Edition and on sale at Amazon.

More companies sell on credit to their customers in China. This book shares with you, using statistical data, the true picture of payment behavior in China. It also contains lots of cultural insights for you to better understand the business environment in China. A chapter is dedicated to discuss various aspects of China company credit reports.