OREANDA-NEWS. April 29, 2014. In recent years, ICBC has been accelerating the credit structure adjustment by making more efforts to support modern service sector in a bid to aid transformation and upgrading of economic structure.

At the end of 2013, ICBC's loans to modern service sector reached as high as RMB 1.59 trillion, a big expansion of 21.74% over the previous year and 11 percentage points higher than its average growth rate of corporate customer loans, benefiting about 50,000 corporate customers. In this way, ICBC contributed greatly to the healthy development of modern service industry. With a focus on SMEs, ICBC scored over RMB 1 trillion SME lending at the end of 2013, accounting for 64.12% of its total financing amount to modern service industry.

The Bank has focused on credit business to modern service since 2008, enhancing market analysis and industrial study while formulating credit policies annually for almost all major sub-sectors of modern service industry including commercial circulation, culture industry, modern logistics, lodging industry, medical care, education, software and information service, civil aviation and shipping. Credit granted by institutions of the Group have been steered towards quality customers to facilitate the improvement and upgrading of industrial structure.

Due to its inherent restrictions, modern service sector has difficulty in obtaining funds from banks. Many enterprises in this sector provide services via knowledge, technology and creativity for which the property right evaluation mechanism and the market trading system remain immature.

In response, ICBC focused on credit product innovation and integrated financing solutions for modern service industry. It provided innovated financing support to different sub-sectors and tailored credit products for different types of customers in consideration of their operating characteristics and needs. In specific, direct and indirect financing channels including loans, supply chain financing, bonds issuance, wealth management financing and financial consultation were provided to leading enterprises, and micro & small business loans and collective bonds of SMEs. For example, for modern logistics industry, a typical producer service, ICBC designed a full package of financial services for SF Express, covering credit financing, cash management, cross-border payment, corporate wealth management, POS acquiring, co-branded card issuance, agency payroll service and personal banking services, satisfying the financial demands of SF Express and its upstream and downstream customers.

ICBC, skipping the model of mortgage with fixed asset commonly used in traditional industry, assisted asset-light creative enterprise to address financing difficulties via accounts receivable factoring and film and television collective funding. Financing backed by special asset charging right was offered to cultural enterprises with stable cash flows like cultural tourism, radio and television enterprises, which is conducive to the growth and innovation of culture industry.