China on Thursday issued a plan to promote high-quality development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during the 2026-2030 period.

By 2030, China's SMEs are expected to achieve growth in both quality and scale, with per capita operating revenue of major SMEs posting cumulative growth of around 15% over the five-year period, according to the plan, which was jointly issued by 10 government departments, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

It also envisions the SMEs' innovative development capacity being markedly enhanced by 2030. Average annual growth in internal research and development expenditure by major industrial SMEs is targeted at over 8%. Meanwhile, the number of "little giant" firms and national-level SME industrial clusters is projected to reach 22,000 and 600, respectively, according to the plan.

The plan also calls for continued improvements to the SME service system, and an optimized development environment, including largely putting in place a sound long-term mechanism for resolving payment arrears owed to SMEs and broadening access to diversified financing.

It outlines seven key tasks, including stabilizing businesses and employment, strengthening enterprise cultivation, accelerating digital, intelligent and green development, promoting coordinated and integrated development, improving the supply of production factors, strengthening the SME service system, and enhancing legal and policy safeguards.

It also sets out a series of specific financial support measures, including stepped-up efforts to prepare SMEs for listing, greater support for venture capital, and the launching of the second phase of a national SME development fund.

The plan is expected to open up more pathways for SME transformation and upgrading, said Ma Yuan, deputy director of the Institute for Enterprise Research under the Development Research Center of the State Council, China's Cabinet.

(With input from Xinhua)