The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) is implementing new measures to ensure central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) settle payments to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) promptly. A dedicated meeting will be held this week to enforce these requirements across all central SOEs.
Central SOEs are mandated to maintain zero overdue payments and prioritize cash settlements over commercial paper. Starting in 2024, cash payments have become a strict requirement for SMEs, and the issuance of commercial paper with terms exceeding six months is now strictly prohibited.
To improve transparency, central SOEs must publish complaint channels on their official websites. Furthermore, SASAC will launch a QR code-based complaint platform on its website in January 2025. SMEs can also utilize the national platform established by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
SASAC will oversee the resolution of payment disputes, ensuring that all reported cases are verified and settled. The commission is also instructing local state-owned assets regulators to ensure that local state-owned enterprises follow these payment standards to support SME liquidity.
