Workers weld at a workshop of an automobile manufacturing enterprise in Qingzhou city, East China's Shandong Province. Photo: Xinhua

A series of recent data show that as the effects of incremental financial policies and other pro-growth policies continue to manifest, the vitality and development confidence of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) continue to improve.

Yu Xuebin, general manager of Ningbo Feile Biotechnology Co, told the Global Times on Thursday that orders are flooding in for roasted Chinese torreya, a type of nut similar to nutmeg, and that the future for his produce looks prosperous.

Yu's company planted 3,000 mu (200 hectares) of Chinese torreya in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang Province. "With relevant policy support, we started to carry out deep processing of food from the beginning of the year, which significantly increased the added value of our agricultural products."

The core of policy support is to help SMEs realize high-quality development, Zhu Qiucheng, CEO of Ningbo New Oriental Electric Industrial Development, an exporter of home furnishing products, told the Global Times.

As one of the latest support measures, Shenzhen in South China's Guangdong Province released guidance to increase support for the digital transformation of SMEs, with a maximum subsidy of 400,000 yuan ($55,049) for each company, according to a notice released on Thursday.

Through financial funds and optimizing the allocation of resources, Shenzhen vowed to reduce the cost of digital transformation of SMEs and accelerate the digitalization process of the three pilot industries - intelligent robots, semiconductors and integrated circuits, as well as precision instruments and equipment.

At present, the effect of domestic macro policies is gradually showing, and the momentum of consumption recovery is increasing. Fiscal, tax, financial, industrial and other policies will continue to reduce the burden on SMEs, and the operating conditions of SMEs are expected to continue to improve, Zhou Maohua, an economist at China Everbright Bank, told the Global Times on Thursday.

Such a growth momentum and recovery of confidence are reflected through recent index and figures. The Caixin China General Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI), which tends to feature more SMEs, reached 51.5 in November, the second straight month of manufacturing expansion and the highest level since July, according to data released on Monday.

A reading above 50 indicates an expansion in manufacturing activity.

The official PMI, which was released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday, also rose in the expansion territory in November to reach 50.3. 

According to the latest release from the China Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Index stood at 89 in October, up 0.3 points month-on-month, the highest growth rate since March 2023. The sub-indexes rose across the board.

The index is based on a survey of 3,000 SMEs from eight major industries, which reflects the economic performance of SMEs.

"It is expected that there will be more policies to support enterprises, especially SMEs, to reduce costs, improve quality and increase efficiency. The operating conditions of SMEs are expected to improve even more, which will in turn boost confidence among business communities," Zhu said.

The improved confidence is also seen in the increasing number of small- and micro-sized enterprises. In the first three quarters of this year, 12.45 million small and micro businesses were set up, up 4 percent year-on-year, according to the State Administration of Taxation.

The positive effect of a package of incremental policies is already evident. Confidence in the market has been instilled, Cong Yi, a professor at the Tianjin School of Administration, told the Global Times.