A Taizhou company is granted 10 million yuan ($1.44 million) in loans under the nation's credit-enhancement system that covers quality, standards, brands, patents and other factors, on Feb 27. [Photo/taizhou.com.cn]

Taizhou recently launched the nation's first credit enhancement product, local media reported.

Loans worth 50 million yuan were issued by a bank in the city in East China's Zhejiang province to five companies under the nation's credit-enhancement system on Feb 27.

The credit enhancement product will effectively promote deeper integration between enterprises and the financial system, noted Li Hehua, director of the Jiaojiang market supervision bureau.

Credit enhancement is a strategy for improving the credit risk profile of a business so that it can obtain better terms for repaying debt. Unlike loans that require a pledging of patents, credit enhancement emphasizes more on businesses' credit based on intangible assets, Li said.

One recipient of the loans is Zhejiang Yihe Sanitary Ware Co Ltd, a Taizhou-based company specializing in the R&D, production and sales of smart toilets. It currently owns 163 patents.

According to Chen Fanglin, vice general manager at Yihe, the loan acquired will offer the company with new avenues to strengthen innovation.

The approval time required for such loans has been slashed to less than 10 work days, said Ye Wangjie, a staff member at the Tailong Bank, the provider of the loans.