Shandong Financial Assets Exchange (SFAE) is set to launch its Qingdao branch on May 15, improving the eastern coastal city's financial environment.

On May 7, SFAE signed a cooperative agreement with Qingdao's development promotion centers for micro-credit companies and financial guarantee services.

SFAE is an innovative, professional and comprehensive assets exchange aimed to serve Shandong province's financial reform and innovation. Since its opening on April 22 in 2014, SFAE has grown quickly, with online transactions in more than 10 products exceeding 40 billion yuan ($6.44 billion) and yields at least 30 percent higher than bank products, the report says.

The exchange serve enterprises' direct financing needs and assist citizens in wealth management. It has the goal of setting up professional platforms for the disposal of toxic financial assets, to fuel financial innovation for small enterprises and a secondary market of wealth management products, said SFAE Vice-President Wei Qing.

Cooperation with the development promotion centers for micro-credit companies and financing services will play a role in improving the environment for local financial institutions, enhancing options for small businesses and offering more choices for investors, he added.

Officials with the development centers said micro-credit companies and financing insurance companies are the new force for local finance. The centers will take this opportunity to step up innovation in financial products and achieve a sustainable and healthy development of micro-finance.