Citibank launched a financing innovation forum for China's small and medium-sized companies on Thursday in Shanghai to help their managers deal with financing difficulties.

The forum, attended by bankers, investors, managers and economists, explored the prospects of innovative financing services and provided guidance for managers.

Small and medium-sized enterprises have played an important role in China's rapid economic development, but they still face various problems in management and financing, said Zhang Zhihao, head of Citibank China's Commercial Banking Group.

The forum will provide the latest information on how to solve their problems, Zhang said.

The one-day forum will also be held in nine other cities such as Tianjin and Guangzhou over the next three months.

China has about 23 million small and medium-sized enterprises, which create about 60 percent of the country's gross domestic product.

(Xinhua News Agency March 16, 2007)