A senior Chinese official Thursday called on east Asian countries to reduce the tax burden for SMEs (small- and medium-sized enterprises) and encouraged SMEs to conduct multinational businesses.

Ma Kai, minister in charge of the State Development and Reform Commission, made the remarks at a seminar on SMEs development here Thursday.

SMEs have become "a significant force for promoting foreign investment as well as economic and trade cooperation for East Asian countries," he said.

Ma called on east Asian countries to create a favorable investment and trade environment for SME development.

According to statistics from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Council, SMEs account for over 97 percent of the total companies in the Asia-Pacific region.

Their exports accounted for between 40 to 60 percent of overall exports, the statistics showed.

China has been actively promoting its SMEs to go overseas. It has successfully held two international SMEs expositions. This year's expo attracted 5,000 companies from home and abroad.

Source: Xinhua