HSBC Holdings Plc set up a $290 million credit facility for technology startups and other small and medium-sized companies in new industries in China's Guangdong province, Reuters reported Dec. 13.

The facility will serve high-end, high-tech startups as well as companies that are upgrading their technological systems to innovate, the bank's CEO for Guangdong, Montgomery Ho, told the news agency.

Over the medium term, the lender reportedly wants to hire another 4,000 employees in China's Pearl River Delta region, which is part of Guangdong, adding to the 1,200 staff it had there at the end of 2015.