The People's Bank of China has implemented a database to track accounts receivable, the central bank said yesterday. The network is expected to help small and medium-sized companies obtain bank loans. The central bank estimated that 60 percent of the country's SME's assets are tied up in accounts receivable and inventories.

Accounts receivable alone are valued at about 5.5 trillion yuan (US$732.4 billion). They constitute a key for expanding SME's financing channels by better leveraging assets, analysts said.

(Shanghai Daily October 9, 2007)