BOC's development advances country's modernization

High-quality growth across nation supported by Bank of China's pioneering efforts in bolstering progress in major projects closely connected with socioeconomic improvement, people's well-being and renminbi internationalization

Riding the wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, Bank of China is ramping up its engagement in building China into a financial powerhouse and advancing Chinese modernization, with its own high-quality development.

As a staunch advocate of reforms, the financial group, pragmatic and proactive, has been playing an active role in a myriad of major projects to assist the country in getting stronger and more sustainable.

Extensive involvement

In South China's Guangdong province, which has long been known as a pioneer and an experimental zone of the country's reform and opening-up, the new generation of financial professionals are working to make the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area a strategic pivot of the new development pattern, a demonstration site of high-quality development, and a leading area of China's modernization.

At the Pearl River Estuary, a "super project" has emerged in the vast open sea — the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, spanning the east and west banks of the river.

Serving as a crucial link in the golden bay of the Pearl River Estuary, the approximately 24-kilometer-long Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link was officially opened to traffic on June 30, conducive to the coordinated development of the Bay Area.

Behind the strategic move is strong financial momentum. As one of the world's most complex cross-sea cluster projects, the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link has required large-scale financing and a long construction period. From the very beginning of the project, BOC actively responded by serving as a joint lead bank for the project consortium, providing financial support for the construction of the project, ensuring the smooth completion and operation of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link.

Supporting the construction of the Bay Area is just one example of how BOC has closely aligned itself with regional economic development in recent years, actively contributing to high-quality development and advancing the progress in Chinese-style modernization.

At Tianjin Port, rows of cranes stand tall, and modules resembling "floor slabs" are under construction, which are soon to be installed on floating production storage and offloading facilities; at a demonstration zone for integrated ecological and green development in the Yangtze River Delta, an array of solar panels lie facing the sun, and wind turbine blades rotate in the wind. The nation's first "near-zero carbon" innovation cluster was established there, serving as a vivid testimony to green development.

Thanks to financial support, the innovative vitality in various regions is fully unleashed, injecting strong momentum into accelerating the cultivation of new quality productive forces, constructing a regionally complementary economic layout, and promoting high-quality regional development.

Technological innovation is the key to developing new quality productive forces. In Shanghai, BOC integrates into the regional industrial layout, continuously scales up support for technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises, establishes a coordinated service mechanism, assists in technological innovation and the development of the real economy, and invigorates the growth of new quality productive forces with technological finance.

Green development is the foundation for high-quality development. In Jiangsu province, BOC has launched an intellectual property-backed financing program to assist with the growth of the new energy vehicle industry, introducing its NEV industry chain service solution. The bank provides exclusive credit policies, green passage for approval, differentiated interest rate discounts, and other policy support to white list clients, injecting strong momentum into the development of new quality productive forces with green finance.

The deep integration of the digital economy and the real economy promotes the development of new quality productive forces. In Shenzhen, Guangdong province, BOC accelerates financial product integration and innovation, optimizes service processes using digital means, and expands service boundaries. From creating convenient online service platforms to upgrading intelligent approval systems and leveraging innovation achievements, the bank constructs a quantitative evaluation system based on comprehensive IP data. BOC uses digital finance as the driving engine to cultivate the development of new quality productive forces.

In Shanghai, the Shanghai Tower, the Shanghai World Financial Center and the Jinmao Tower rise into the sky, shaping the skyline of the city. The city's Pudong New Area has transformed from farmland into a modern urban area where skyscrapers have sprung up. In September 2013, the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially launched in Pudong, becoming the country's first FTZ.

Global outreach

Expanding high-level opening-up is inseparable from the strong support finance offers. BOC was one of the first banks to settle in the Shanghai FTZ, leveraging its cross-border professional advantages to help land a batch of pioneering businesses.

As the Lingang New Area of the Shanghai FTZ was approved for establishment in 2019, BOC immersed itself in the fervent construction wave of the Lingang New Area, serving as a pioneer in financial innovation in the free trade zone and witnessing the ever-expanding opening-up of China.

Opening-up expansion is a crucial driving force for deepening reforms. To advance reforms across the board with a broad global perspective, it is necessary to promote high-level opening-up, industry insiders said.

As the main channel bank for foreign trade financial services, BOC builds on its high-quality service and focuses on high-level opening-up. Leveraging comprehensive financial services with global expertise and all-around services accessible at any point of contact, the bank consistently strengthens and expands its globalization advantages, enhances global deployment capabilities and international competitiveness, continuously burnishing its century-old brand for global development, and promoting a higher level of opening-up through high-quality financial services.

In 2023, BOC's global service network expanded further with the establishment of a representative office in Papua New Guinea and the opening of a branch in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The move has enabled BOC branches to achieve a presence in 64 countries and regions overseas, including 44 countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Relying on its extensive global network and comprehensive global financial services, BOC has been playing an active part in supporting and involving itself in the BRI. By providing diversified financial services such as project financing, cross-border settlements and risk management, the bank offers financial support for infrastructure construction, trade, and cultural exchanges in Belt and Road countries and regions.

As a result, landmark projects such as the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway, 500-megawatt wind power projects and photovoltaic power plant projects, and the Peru Chancay Port that connects various countries have taken root and blossomed along the Belt and Road, bringing visible and tangible benefits to the peoples of these countries.

With China's increasingly close ties with the world, BOC continues to scale up renminbi settlement, constantly enhancing the facilitation level of cross-border investment and financing, in a bid to strengthen the interaction between domestic and international financial markets.

The bank also provides a package of RMB-denominated financial services including cross-border settlement, fund pool and overseas bond issuance, actively promoting the pricing and use of the RMB.

Currently, the RMB international settlement is blossoming in various parts of the world. For instance, a BOC subsidiary bank in Brazil is testing RMB settlement, facilitating RMB letter of credit discounting for exporters and helping them receive RMB payments in advance; a subsidiary bank in Djibouti has processed the country's first cross-border RMB settlement transaction, assisting Chinese enterprises in going global.

In addition to focusing on RMB settlement, BOC is also establishing a sound cross-border financial service system, enriching the supply of financial products and services, closely following enterprises expanding overseas, and continuously providing businesses with convenient, efficient and inclusive cross-border financial products and services.

At the 135th China Import and Export Fair, which ran from mid-April to early May, electric vehicles, lithium batteries and solar panels were favored by overseas buyers. BOC, deeply involved in cross-border settlement, document review, risk identification and other aspects for enterprises engaged in foreign trade, assists companies in reviewing letter of credit drafts, helping them manage risks and ensure fund security, while improving the efficiency of letter of credit review and issuance. This support helps companies quickly establish stable cooperative relationships with new overseas customers.

Active engagement

Since its construction plan was initiated seven years ago, the Xiong'an New Area witnessed an innovative, intelligent, and green city emerge. In April 2018, BOC Hebei Xiong'an Branch opened in Xiong'an New Area, marking a new starting point for BOC to serve Xiong'an New Area and move toward a better future.

Initiatives like the "Xiong'an One Card Pass" and the "Beijing-Xiong'an Intercity Railway E-Card Pass" break regional barriers. Tailored personal financial service solutions enhance the sense of gain and happiness among local residents in Xiong'an. BOC is vigorously promoting the digital construction of Xiong'an, with the bank's innovation research base and the headquarters of BOC Fullerton Community Bank settling in Xiong'an, and the launch of the country's first "blockchain plus digital RMB" scenario.

These financial practices are strengthening efforts in education, healthcare, housing, elder care, transportation and other livelihood areas, injecting strong momentum into the comprehensive development of the "people's city".

Financial assistance in improving livelihoods and promoting Chinese modernization has transformed into tangible and perceptible initiatives, becoming specific and detailed microprojects.

For Liu Xiping, a farmer in Dezhou, Shandong province, it is a new type of wheat harvester. Thanks to the financial support from BOC's online collateral loans, small-scale farmers like him can upgrade their equipment. For He Jing in Qinghai province, it is lush green grass and clear water. Benefiting from BOC's "personal green account" combined with an "account plus equity" model, everyone can be empowered to lead a low-carbon lifestyle, contributing collectively to preserving Qinghai's blue skies and green waters. For Yang Jianxiong, an elderly resident living alone in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, it is a peaceful and warm retirement life. Thanks to BOC's elderly-friendly financial products, elderly individuals like Yang can bridge the digital divide and access convenient services such as home care, travel assistance and health management.

In the vast and profound reform of the new era, BOC says it has always adhered to a people-centric value orientation, gaining a deep understanding of market demand and customer needs, enriching financial products, promoting service models integration and digital transformation, and enhancing people's sense of gain, happiness and security.

LU PING/CHINA DAILY