HK money lender eyes Tianjin

First Credit Limited, a licensed money lender in Hong Kong, is set to roll out its business in Tianjin, as it sees a promising future on the mainland, which is a vast market, its chairman Checkley Sin Kwok-lam told China Daily.

The company is applying for a license to establish a micro-credit firm in Tianjin and it will probably be the first of its kind in Tianjin to be wholly-owned by an overseas company, said Sin.

First Credit was established in 2006 and listed on the Hong Kong Exchange GEM Board in December 2011; its major business is to provide loans to individuals as well as to small companies in Hong Kong.

Sin said Hong Kong's micro-credit market is relatively well developed and mature, so there is limited room for significant growth, and meanwhile, the mainland market is rapidly growing.

"According to our research, the micro-credit market on the mainland is very much like the market in Hong Kong 30 years ago," he said, adding that First Credit is eager to enter this rapidly growing market with its experience from Hong Kong.

According to data released by the People's Bank of China, at the end of September, there were a total of 5,629 micro-credit companies with outstanding loans of 533 billion yuan ($85.53 billion), including 141.4 billion yuan new loans during the period.

Sin said that the company chose Tianjin to roll out its business because the Binhai New Area is one of the testing grounds in China for pilot financial policies, and the local government is open-minded and welcomes his company.

Besides, Tianjin has a population of around 13 million and its residents' incomes are growing rapidly, and so the potential of the micro-credit business there is limitless, he added.

The requirement for establishing such a money lending company in Tianjin is that the company should have at least four major shareholders, including the largest shareholder's stake not exceeding 30 percent of the venture, he said.

"But the Tianjin government is willing to make an exception for us, considering that we are a listed company in Hong Kong, and technically our firm in Tianjin will have hundreds of shareholders."