ICBC unveils new solutions for regional integration

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the country’s largest commercial lender, unveiled a set of financial solutions on Thursday in Shanghai aimed at supporting the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.

The bank also launched a new branch in the Lingang New Area of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which will offer comprehensive financial services in the area and facilitate companies in cross-border settlement, investment and financing.

During the next five years, ICBC plans to grant an additional 2 trillion yuan (US$280 billion) to fund retail customers, enterprises and projects in the region, according to Gu Shu, president of the state-owned lender.

The bank now serves 140 million individual customers and 2.2 million corporation clients in the Yangtze River Delta region, with the balance of loans in the area exceeding 3.3 trillion yuan. Its accumulated investment in local government bonds in the region stands at 635.7 billion yuan, ranking first in the market.

ICBC also announced that it would build three major business centers in Shanghai, namely, a financial innovation center, a cross-border business center and a financial market trading center.

To promote the upgrading and transformation of traditional industries in the region, ICBC said it would focus on providing better financial products and offerings in five major areas, including infrastructure connectivity, ecological environment protection and governance.

Also on Thursday, it signed strategic cooperation agreements with six large state-owned enterprises like China National Railway Group, China Unicom Group and China Eastern Airlines Group, and seven factor market institutions such as Shanghai Futures Exchange, China Financial Futures Exchange and Shanghai Insurance Exchange.

Additionally, ICBC has teamed up with 14 leading enterprises from Shanghai, and Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces to drive the region’s high-quality development and integration.