Since the beginning of this year, the city has beenconducting financial work as required by the provincial/local financialsupervision bureaus, the Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government,including the decomposition of tasks, building of platforms, investigation andsupervision, overall planning and scheduling, bank-enterprise connection,policy implementation. By the end of September, major financial targets for thewhole year had been achieved.

As regards indirect financing, the balance of loans inlocal and foreign currencies granted in Jingzhou totaled 184.9 billion yuan atthe end of September, increasing by 23.1 billion yuan with a growth rate of18.55%. The balance ranked third in the province, with the increment rankingsecond and the growth rate ranking first (exclusive of Wuhan). The year-on-yeargrowth rate has been ranking first among all cities and prefectures for nineconsecutive months. The annual target of 23 billion yuan of newly granted creditloans was achieved three month ahead of schedule. The balance of deposits inlocal and foreign currencies was 342.4 billion yuan, increasing by 26.4 billionyuan with a growth rate of 7.41%. The balance ranked fourth in the province,with the increment ranking second and the growth rate ranking sixth.

In regard todirect financing, with the addition of one A-share listed company (W-olf PhotoelectricTechnology), the number of listed companies in our city reached 10 at the endof September, including 8 domestic A-share listed companies. Our city’s rankingin the number of companies listed at home and abroad rose from third to second.One company was newly listed on the New OTC Market. The total number of listed companieson the New Four Board was 739, including 5 “seed companies”, 541 “joint stockcompanies”, 191 “technology companies”, 1 “startup founded by young entrepreneurs”and 1 “startup founded by overseas returnees”. Two companies were selected intothe provincial “Seed Companies on the Science and Technology Innovation Board”,fulfilling the annual target set by the province. Twenty three companies in ourcity were selected into the provincial “Silver Seed Companies” to be listed,ranking second in the province and exceeding the annual target by 5. New directfinancing for enterprises provided by the city’s multi-tiered capital market totaled2.737 billion yuan, increasing by 173.7% on a year-on-year basis and exceeding theannual target set by the Municipal GovernmentWork Report by 36.9%.