China to lower bad loan provisions for smaller banks - state media

China's cabinet has decided to lower the bad loan provision requirement for medium and small banks by 20 percentage points temporarily, state television quoted a cabinet meeting chaired by Premier Li Keqiang as saying on Tuesday.

The move is meant to free up capital for banks to lend to struggling smaller and medium enterprises amid the unprecedented economic challenges, it said.

China will also expand coverage of unemployment insurance to counter the impact of the coronavirus, it added.