China News Service, Beijing, September 14th (Reporter Liu Liang) Ke Jixin, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, attended the State Council's regular policy briefing held by the State Council Information Office in Beijing on the 14th. He said that China will vigorously rectify the problem of large enterprises arrears with small and medium-sized enterprises and promote the overall improvement of the problem of payment difficulties for small and medium-sized enterprises.
The "Notice on Strengthening the Management of Difficulties in Repayment of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises" (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice") recently issued by the Chinese government proposes to improve industry account payment rules, clarify reasonable account periods by industry, clarify four key elements of payment, and guide large enterprises to limit the maximum payment period to within 60 days.
Ke Jixin said that promoting timely payment of accounts by enterprises in the industry and ensuring smooth corporate capital chains will help improve the resilience and security level of the industrial chain and supply chain. At present, most industries have not yet introduced special settlement and payment rules. Some large enterprises have taken advantage of this "loophole" to deliberately lengthen the accounting period of upstream and downstream small and medium-sized enterprises by blurring the starting point of the accounting period, delaying acceptance or settlement, abusing commercial bills and electronic vouchers for accounts receivable, and other related means.
Ke Jixin said that the notice proposed that the relevant industry authorities should formulate and improve the settlement and payment regulations of the industry, and clarify the starting point of the accounting period, the payment method and process, the standards and deadlines for inspection and acceptance of goods and services (or project completion settlement), the maximum payment period and other relevant key contents, namely the "four key elements of payment." This not only sets clear boundaries for large enterprises to pay their accounts in a timely manner, but also allows small and medium-sized enterprises to have a clear idea of when and how they can get their money back.
At the same time, the notice actively guides large enterprises to reduce the maximum payment period for small and medium-sized enterprises to 60 days. Ke Jixin said that the timely payment of accounts by leading companies will serve as a demonstration and leadership role for companies in the entire industrial chain and industry.
The notice requires relevant industry authorities to issue prompt payment initiatives, guide leading companies in the industry to take the lead in issuing and implementing the "60-day cash payment commitment", and encourage leading companies to pay small and medium-sized enterprises in cash within 60 days from the date of delivery of goods, projects, and services. This includes instant payment methods such as bank transfers.
