BIZCHINA> IPR Issue
|
Lenders start taking IPR as collateral
By Zhang Lu (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-11-16 14:37 Fixed assets such as property and manufacturing facilities are the most commonly used bank guarantees, but now Chinese companies are putting up less tangible assets to get bank loans - intellectual property rights (IPR).
Earlier this month, Beijing Kery Bio-Pharm Company got a 1.5 million yuan (US$189,000) loan from the Beijing branch of the Bank of Communications, using as collateral one of its invention patents, valued at 6 million yuan (US$759,000). This is the first time the Bank of Communications has offered this kind of loan. The deal may be a boon for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which are often unable to get bank loans due to a lack of valuable fixed assets. "This is the first-ever bank loan we've got since the company's establishment in the early 1990s," said Qi Qing, general manager of Kery Bio-Pharm. "The loan amount is small, but it is a breakthrough in that the commercial value of an intellectual asset is getting recognized," she said. The new loan offering is to help SMEs like Kery Bio-Pharm, which have valuable intellectual property rights get financed, said Zhang Xin, an official from the Bank of Communications. According to Zhang, SMEs of good credit, registered in Beijing and with total assets of no more than 40 million yuan (US$5.06 million) and annual sales of no more than 30 million yuan (US$3.8 million), can apply for the service. (For more biz stories, please visit Industries)
|