Lenders step up efforts to serve real economy

It will also promote rural vitalization in all respects and consolidate the gains from poverty alleviation campaigns, as well as provide financial services for the construction of elderly care infrastructure. CDB's digital transformation will be accelerated to strengthen its ability to serve the digital economy.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has made remarkable progress in promoting high-quality development of green finance, said Li Duo, main head of the bank's credit and investment management department.

Li said ICBC's green loan balance currently ranks tops in the industry, with the influence of its green finance brand — "ICBC Green Bank+" — continuing to increase.

Global index and analytics company MSCI raised ICBC's environmental, social and governance rating to AA in 2023, a first for the Chinese mainland.

Li said ICBC has promoted the green transformation of its financial services in an orderly manner. It has adjusted its investment and lending plans, giving strong support to green industries, and has incorporated indicators such as companies' energy consumption into the selection criteria of customers and projects. It has also created customized policies based on the projects' pricing, scale and other characteristics.

The bank has also actively innovated and developed new green financial products. By the end of 2023, it had issued a total of $19.9 billion in green financial bonds overseas and 80 billion yuan at home.

Meanwhile, ICBC has striven to promote global cooperation in the green financial sector. It is the only Chinese-funded institution that participated in the drafting of the United Nations' Principles for Responsible Banking, Li said.

Bank of Jiangsu's Vice-President Luo Feng said the bank is providing strong support for small and micro enterprises, and this has been highly appreciated by the regulatory authorities. It had issued over 620 billion yuan in loans to small and micro enterprises as of the end of 2023, ranking first among China's city commercial banks. Of these, nearly 170 billion yuan were inclusive loans.

The bank has made more credit resources available for small and micro enterprises, and has further expanded the scope of its financial services, said Luo.

The bank has also developed an online financing platform and new loan products to specifically serve micro enterprises and self-employed households with financing needs of less than 1 million yuan each.

Luo said the bank has used financial technology to constantly improve service quality and user experience. It has developed a "one-stop" smart product that enables online applications, approvals and disbursement of loans, and has launched digital platforms that provide small and micro enterprises with comprehensive services such as wealth management and policy consultation.

Bank of Jiangsu has also strictly implemented both national and local policies to reduce the burden and increase efficiency of enterprises. It has lowered the inclusive loan interest rates for small and micro enterprises and paid for enterprises' collateral appraisal fees and property insurance fees. Meanwhile, it has launched products to help enterprises set up flexible repayment plans.

Chang Haizhong, executive director of corporates at rating agency Fitch Bohua, said it is the "paramount mission" for the financial sector to support the development of the real economy, and that the distribution of financial resources must be in line with the strategies of the nation.

"The authorities have further clarified the key directions for the allocation of financial resources, namely, technological innovation, advanced manufacturing, green development, and small and medium-sized enterprises," he said.

"This is also the essential path for China to achieve independent innovation, industrial upgrading and the carbon objectives, and thereby achieve high-quality development."

The central financial work conference, held in October, said that the financial sector must solve problems including low efficiency, hidden economic and financial risks, and relatively weak supervision and governance capacity, to provide high-quality services for economic and social development.

The meeting urged to create an enabling monetary and financial environment, while stepping up quality financial services for major strategies, key areas and weak links.