Abstract: Taking the data of SMEs in Chinese market from 2010 to 2021 as the research sample, this paper focuses on the impact of commercial banks’ digital transformation on the credit availability of SMEs and the role of banking governance represented by financial regulation and financial competition in the process of commercial banks’ digital transformation on the credit availability of SMEs. The findings show that the digital transformation of commercial banks can significantly improve the credit availability of SMEs and enhance the inclusive financial services for SMEs. The relationship between the banking governance represented by financial regulation and financial competition and the credit availability of SMEs presents a nonlinear inverted“U”shape, that is, there is an optimal intensity of financial regulation and degree of financial competition, which optimizes the credit availability of SMEs. In the process of banking governance affecting the credit availability of SMEs, the digital transformation of commercial banks will affect the optimal intensity of financial regulation and degree of financial competition to optimize the credit availability of SMEs, that is, the higher the level of digital transformation of commercial banks, the higher the optimal financial regulatory intensity and the degree of financial competition that can optimize the credit availability of SMEs. The above-mentioned conclusions have important policy implications for in-depth implementation of financial regulation and correct guidance of financial competition, so as to better promote the digital transformation of commercial banks and improve the availability of credit for SMEs.

Key words: digital transformation, financial regulation, credit supply, inclusive finance