MORE than 300 Chinese companies are seeking bank loans totalling at least 57.4 billion yuan (US$8.2 billion) to help to soften the impact of the coronavirus outbreak, two banking sources said.

Authorities have cordoned off cities, suspended transport links and shuttered facilities where crowds gather, hammering economic growth.

Extended factory closures, meanwhile, will slow manufacturing and weigh on global supply chains.

Among the prospective borrowers are food delivery giant Meituan Dianping, smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp., ride-hailing provider Didi Chuxing Technology Co., facial recognition startup Megvii Technology Inc. and Internet security business Qihoo 360 Technology Co., the sources said, adding that the companies seeking loans were either involved in the control of the epidemic or had been hardest hit.

The companies seeking loans in Beijing are likely to get fast-track approvals and preferential interest rates, said the sources, who received copies of two lists of company names sent to Beijing banks by the city government’s finance bureau.

The two lists also contained the size of loans sought.

There is no official data showing the total loans Chinese companies are seeking nationwide to weather the outbreak.

“Banks will have the final say on lending decisions,” one of the sources said. “The interest rates are likely to be on par with those offered to banks’ top clients.”

Xiaomi, the world’s fourth-biggest smartphone maker, is seeking 5 billion yuan in loans to produce and sell medical equipment including masks and thermometers, according to the lists.

Meituan Dianping is seeking 4 billion yuan, partly to help finance free food and deliveries to medical staff in Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak in central Hubei Province.

Didi Chuxing, “severely impacted by the virus outbreak,” is seeking 50 million yuan.

Exchange disclosures showed that Xiaomi’s third-quarter revenue growth slowed, but gross profit surged 25.2 percent year on year to 8.2 billion yuan. Meituan Dianping has been profitable for the past two quarters.

Beijing-based Qihoo 360 is seeking 1 billion yuan to buy medical-related products and finance work on apps to track and contain the virus.

(SD-Agencies)