East China's Shandong province has been ramping up efforts to stabilize and expand employment and support entrepreneurship.

Under the guidance of the State Council, Shandong will expand eligibility for start-up loans and use a variety of tools such as required reserve ratio reductions, interest rate cuts, and re-lending to enable M2 money supply and aggregate financing to grow at notably higher rates than last year.

More groups will be eligible to receive financial support. Self-employed individuals, individuals who buy cars with loans and are exclusively used for leasing operations, full-time drivers who buy cars with loans and join online ride-hailing platforms, individuals who set up taxi or online ride-hailing enterprises, and individuals working in Shandong's incubation bases and pioneer parks can also apply for start-up loans.

Individuals who have already received discounted interest on guaranteed start-up loans and have paid off the loan on time may apply for the loan if they experience operational difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The loan amount will be raised. Considering the obvious rise in the cost of starting a business, Shandong will increase the personal loan amount from a maximum of 150,000 yuan ($21,068) to 200,000 yuan.

For those who set up enterprises or farmers' specialized cooperatives, the maximum loan amount will be increased from 450,000 yuan to 600,000 yuan.

Repayment periods will also be extended. In order to solve the working capital shortage for individuals and small and micro enterprises, repayment can be extended to June 30, 2020, during which time the financial department will provide normal interest discounts. For borrowers infected with COVID-19, an extension of one year is available.

Note: In cases of discrepancy, the authoritative Chinese language version shall take precedence.