external financing includes direct financing and indirect financing. Direct financing is to obtain funds through financial markets, such as issuing stocks and bonds. However, for most small and medium-sized shipping enterprises with backward management, even with the gradual improvement and maturity of the direct financing system for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, the door of direct financing is basically closed to small and medium-sized shipping enterprises because of the high entry threshold and high financing cost. It can be said that most of the funds needed for the development of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises can only be obtained through indirect financing. Indirect financing is an activity that the supply and demand sides of funds indirectly realize financing through financial intermediaries. The typical indirect financing is the deposit and loan activities of banks. Because financial intermediaries are intermediary organizations that know and identify the users of funds in advance and supervise the users of funds afterwards. It can solve the problem of information asymmetry between the supply and demand sides of funds at a relatively low cost, and the requirements for the transparency of accounting information of fund users are relatively low. Therefore, indirect financing through the intermediary role of banks has become the main financing channel for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises in China. There are two reasons for the indirect financing difficulties of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises: 1. The problems of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises themselves. Small and medium-sized shipping enterprises are mostly private enterprises, and most of them operate small general cargo ships with low technical content and low added value. Many small and medium-sized shipping enterprises are low-level, extensive and road-oriented, with weak competitiveness and poor growth. Most small and medium-sized shipping enterprises have high risk in business model, little self-owned funds, small business scale, relatively few fixed assets, unstable business performance and poor ability to resist risks. Most small and medium-sized shipping enterprises are generally backward in ship management technology, showing a state of long ship age, backward equipment and facilities and high maintenance costs; The quality of managers is low, middle and senior talents are scarce, and the ability of organization, development and innovation of transportation products is weak. [NextPage] Problems in the operation of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, such as irregular financial management, imperfect institutions, random financial reports, poor authenticity, low transparency, lack of credit accumulation and low credit rating, are difficult to meet the requirements of bank loan conditions. Some small and medium-sized shipping enterprises are blind, have no clear business objectives and unique business direction, do not consider the capacity of the market, or stand in a local market and analyze the whole market unilaterally; In the last project, I did not do what I could, and when the funds were not implemented and put in place, I rushed to the horse and exceeded my ability; Or bet on the bank to solve the loan, regardless of their own strength and bank loan conditions, when the bank can not solve the loan, the enterprise is in a dilemma and riding a tiger. With the lack of social credit and weak sense of credibility, the business operators of this enterprise try their best to obtain loans from banks and pass on the risks when the business is struggling. 2. Banking problems. Incompatibility of ownership. The main body of China's banking industry is state-owned commercial banks. Supporting the development of state-owned economy should be an important criterion for state-owned commercial banks. Among the small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, most are private enterprises. Although in recent years, banks have largely relied on the operating conditions of enterprises in granting loans. But generally speaking, the basic principle that state-owned commercial banks first guarantee the financing needs of large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises has not changed. Under the same conditions, the balance of state-owned commercial banks is inclined to large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises. It is true that when giving loans to well-run private enterprises, the conditions of loans are more stringent than those of state-owned enterprises. Requirements for banks to control risks. With the intensification of China's financial reform, commercial banks represented by the four major state-owned commercial banks have implemented the strategy of credit contraction and credit concentration. Banks have strengthened the control of credit risk, and the responsibility system of liability risk management has been strengthened day by day, and most of them have implemented lifelong accountability; The threshold of bank loans is unconsciously raised. Most banks' secondary identification of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises mainly refers to the indicators of large enterprises and evaluates the credit rating of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises with the standards of large enterprises. It is difficult for most small and medium-sized shipping enterprises to meet the conditions for issuing loans. The problem of bank loan cost. Regardless of the size of the bank loan, there is little difference between the information cost and other transaction costs of a loan. Large enterprises have a large amount of loans, and the unit loan cost of banks is relatively low; However, due to the small loan amount, the unit loan cost of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises is obviously high. Because of the inherent economic interests of banks, banks are more willing to issue large loans to large enterprises, so the enthusiasm of banks for loans to small and medium-sized shipping enterprises is inevitably not very high. Legal and regulatory reasons. Due to the lag of laws and regulations in the legal construction of protecting banks and supporting financing of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, the relevant legal system is not perfect. At present, most of the opinions of banks on supporting the development of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises are macro-guiding, lacking the matching and connection of relevant laws and regulations, which makes small and medium-sized shipping enterprises and commercial banks lack the legal guarantee to participate in fair competition in the market. In addition, due to human factors, some places acquiesce or even enterprises evade bank debts, and the court's ability to protect bank claims is low. In the process of financial creditor's rights, the phenomenon of "winning the lawsuit and losing money" has also occurred many times, which has aggravated the bank's "fear of lending" and thus caused the situation that "it is difficult for enterprises to lend, but it is difficult for banks to lend". [NextPage] Countermeasures and suggestions to solve the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises 1. Departments at all levels should fully realize the important supporting force of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises in China's shipping market and even the national economy and their important role in maintaining sustained and stable economic development and ensuring social stability, and eliminate ownership discrimination against the private economy. In terms of policy orientation, the state should formulate a unified national market access method, and the state-owned economy and the private economy should compete fairly on the same starting line, and appropriately tilt towards the private economy. 2. Small and medium-sized shipping enterprises should implement the business strategy of flexibility, strong market adaptability, and make up for the gaps, avoid the hot projects concerned by large enterprises and companies in the industry, choose "gap" new products or supporting products that they are easy to ignore and have certain economic benefits, and adopt the development models of "small but specialized", "small but refined", "small but new" and "small but special" with limited funds. Or, according to the market and its own strength, choose a large-scale shipping enterprise that is dominant in a certain ship transport market, implement the combination of strength and weakness, adopt the management strategy and production mode of attachment and cooperation, make full use of the capital and technological advantages of large-scale shipping enterprises, form a "small but connected" enterprise development structure, and break through the limitations of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises in terms of capital and technology. 3. Small and medium-sized shipping enterprises should adopt various forms of financing channels, use cooperation, joint venture, equity participation and other ways to raise funds, do what they can, correctly understand and evaluate their own strength, step by step, reduce blindness, prevent unrealistic comparisons, and make limited funds play the maximum benefit. 4. Small and medium-sized shipping enterprises should speed up the pace of institutional innovation and corporate culture construction, improve the management system and corporate governance structure, increase transparency, ensure the authenticity of information provided to the outside world, enhance their credibility and accumulate credit; Overcome the monopoly of private enterprises, and establish a set of management system that is suitable and beneficial to the development of enterprises under the requirements of modern enterprise management system. [NextPage] 5. According to the requirements of the national industrial policy, to further improve the indirect financing system of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, it is necessary to increase the support of state-owned commercial banks for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises and support a number of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises that are in line with the shipping industry structural adjustment policy of the Ministry of Communications and have market, technology and potential for social service. State-owned commercial banks should open a "green channel" for loans to small and medium-sized shipping enterprises that meet the requirements of relevant national policies, improve service efficiency and provide them with quality services; Small and medium-sized shipping enterprises with good development prospects, high credit level and stable operation should implement preferential policies. The banking system should speed up financial innovation and provide diversified and comprehensive financial products for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises to meet the different needs of enterprises. While state-owned commercial banks actively serve small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, they should promote the development of small and medium-sized commercial banks and provide professional and multi-faceted financial services for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises. 6. We should fully understand and attach importance to the role of the credit guarantee system for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, and establish multi-level, multi-structure and multi-ownership parallel credit guarantee institutions and re-guarantee institutions for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises according to the requirements of the development of market economy. Improve and promote the standardized development of the credit guarantee system of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises, ensure that the operation of the guarantee fund of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises meets the requirements of market economy laws, and avoid the credit guarantee fund of small and medium-sized shipping enterprises becoming a safe haven for enterprises to pass on risks. All types of banking financial institutions should establish equal business contacts with credit institutions, and banks should implement different loan interest rates and support measures for small and medium-sized shipping enterprises guaranteed by credit guarantee institutions. It is necessary to promote the construction of the information system of the whole society and make it play the role of credit level identification as soon as possible. (Author: Liaoning University)