Practicing the Responsibility of State Owned Enterprises to Serve the High Quality Development of Free Trade

As the first free trade pilot zone in China, the China Free Trade Pilot Zone is about to celebrate its 10th anniversary. Over the past decade, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone has steadily promoted institutional opening up in accordance with international economic and trade rules, and has taken the lead in deepening financial reform and expanding financial openness. A number of replicable and promotable "Shanghai experiences" have been formed, among which the innovative footprint of China Construction Bank has been left behind.

On September 29, 2013, the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially established, and China Construction Bank responded to the national strategic deployment by establishing a branch of the pilot free trade zone; On August 20, 2019, the Lingang New Area was officially established, and China Construction Bank was the first bank institution to be approved to establish a branch in the Free Trade Zone New Area, becoming the first to open for business. In the past decade, the Shanghai Free Trade Zone has undergone earth shaking changes. China Construction Bank has always been developing and growing together with it, deeply practicing the social responsibility of state-owned banks, strengthening financial innovation, optimizing cross-border services, and providing comprehensive financial support for the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Data shows that as of July 2023, China Construction Bank has provided free trade account services to over 8000 domestic and foreign enterprises, processed more than 100 cross-border two-way RMB fund pools for free trade zones, and the scale of high-level facilitation pilot business in the new area is nearly 2 billion US dollars, serving multiple leading enterprises such as Tesla, Geke, and Shangtang

The vanguard of financial reform

Since the establishment of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone, a number of innovative financial systems have gradually been established, and the functions of financial services have been significantly enhanced. China Construction Bank has closely focused on the reform of free trade funds, and fully supported the real economy by deepening product and service innovation, continuously adding new impetus to the acceleration of the development of the free trade zone.

Leveraging the advantages of the group, actively mobilizing both domestic and international resources and markets.

The pilot program for financial reform and innovation has always been an important part of the reform and opening up of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. In the process of financial reform in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, there have been numerous innovations in the financial system, and a representative example is the free trade account with separate accounting. Enterprises can handle the necessary financial services through the free trade account according to market-oriented principles. As one of the first five banks in the market to pass the People's Bank of China's acceptance and launch the sub account accounting unit business in the free trade zone, China Construction Bank continues to expand and innovate the functions of free trade accounts, reducing financing costs for enterprises in the zone.

In February 2015, the Implementation Rules for Macroprudential Management of Overseas Financing and Cross border Fund Flows in China's Pilot Free Trade were released, which fully opened up domestic and foreign currency overseas financing, cancelled the pre-approval of overseas financing, and relied on the Free Trade Account Management System for in-process and post event supervision. On the first day of policy implementation, China Construction Bank actively collaborated with overseas branches to successfully complete the borrowing and lending of local and foreign currency funds, which were used to issue RMB working capital loans and USD trade financing loans, meeting the daily operation and import payment needs of customers in the free trade zone, and effectively utilizing low-cost overseas funds, effectively reducing financial costs for enterprises.

In the past decade, China Construction Bank Shanghai Branch has utilized both domestic and international resources and markets to further tailor various innovative financing plans for enterprises, including cross-border RMB borrowing business, FT overseas financing business, and comprehensive overseas financing services for "going global" enterprises, achieving financing convenience. As of the end of July 2023, the balance of local and foreign currency loans in the sub account accounting unit of China Construction Bank Shanghai Branch exceeded 68 billion yuan, and multiple cases were selected as innovative cases in the officially announced free trade zone. Among them, the "Fenghe Rili" Financial Company Sub account Accounting Total Financial Service Plan and the "Free Trade Zone Supporting Enterprises to Go Global" Financial Service Plan "won the Shanghai Financial Innovation Award and the Shanghai Banking Innovation Award for two consecutive years; The branch of the Free Trade Zone has been selected as one of the 100 enterprises in the institutional innovation sample for the 10th anniversary of the construction of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Comprehensive service for science and technology innovation, financial support for the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center.

In November 2016, the Notice on Further Expanding the Cross border Financial Service Functions of Free Trade Zones to Support Technological Innovation and the Real Economy was issued, allowing the entire city's technological innovation field to share the dividends of the Free Trade Zone's gold reform policy, enabling commercial banks to accurately cover the demands of technological innovation enterprises at different stages of their entire life cycle, and creating a favorable financial environment for Shanghai to build a globally influential science and technology innovation center.

On the day of policy implementation, China Construction Bank opened FTE accounts for two science and technology innovation enterprises in Shanghai, providing comprehensive financial services to these enterprises through practical actions and supporting technological innovation and development. At that time, the two emerging science and technology innovation enterprises that opened FTE accounts were unable to enjoy various "going out" and "bringing in" preferential policies within the free trade zone and under separate accounting items due to their registration outside the zone, and their business bottlenecks could not be overcome. This new policy of financial reform will expand the qualification of opening a free trade account to the field of scientific and technological innovation in the city, so that the above-mentioned enterprises can truly enjoy the good news and benefits brought by the financial reform of the free trade zone. Therefore, China Construction Bank immediately contacted the enterprise and after explaining the content and significance of this financial reform to them, the enterprise immediately expressed a great willingness to experience the new policy. At noon, they prepared all the account opening materials to China Construction Bank to complete the opening of the FT account, and immediately experienced the efficient and convenient remittance service of the FT account.

In recent years, the Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank has adhered to the requirements of the construction of Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Center, seized the important historical opportunity of innovation driven development, accurately connected with the construction of financial services for the Science and Technology Innovation Center, established the "Jianhu Chain" technology finance brand, created the technology finance construction bank model, deeply implemented the innovation driven strategy, and promoted the innovative development of the free trade zone to a higher level.

Pioneers of open innovation

Four years ago, the Lingang New Area was approved for establishment, benchmarking against the internationally recognized most competitive free trade park, and financial "pilot projects" were implemented one after another. At that time, China Construction Bank responded to the national strategic deployment as soon as possible, becoming the first banking institution to be approved for establishment and operation. It also took the lead in carrying out a batch of "pilot projects" for financial innovation, releasing financial policy dividends to enterprises in the region as soon as possible.

Release of new policies and exploration of facilitation.

At the end of 2020, Lingang New Area was the first in the country to cancel the special deposit account for RMB capital for foreign direct investment. China Construction Bank actively piloted and helped foreign-invested enterprises registered in the Lingang New Area to establish a convenient path of "no longer opening a RMB capital account when investing in RMB, and the settlement bank can directly handle RMB capital entry and settlement services for them.".

A comprehensive group company that integrates real estate and healthcare, headquartered in Singapore and controlled by a Fortune Global 500 group, established a wholly-owned subsidiary in the Lingang New Area in September 2020. To ensure the construction of a complex project in Hangzhou, the newly registered wholly-owned subsidiary urgently needs to allocate funds from overseas shareholders to pay the land security deposit. Based on past investment experience, it takes at least a week for a company to open a capital account, receive incoming capital, and pay land deposit, which can delay land bidding. After learning about the situation, China Construction Bank promptly introduced the new policy of RMB capital to this company, helping it directly collect RMB 400 million in capital from overseas through its basic account opened with China Construction Bank to pay the land deposit. From receiving cross-border RMB to completing the account registration, it only took two working days, and the enterprise did not need to go to the counter to process the transfer. It directly paid the land payment deposit through online banking. "Thank you to China Construction Bank for helping us enjoy the dividends brought by the new policy pilot in a timely manner. This is not just about opening one less account, but also a beneficial exploration to promote investment and trade liberalization and facilitation, further strengthening our investment confidence in the Chinese market," said the company's head.

High level openness and convenient extension.

In January 2022, with the launch of the pilot work of high-level open foreign exchange management reform for cross-border trade and investment in the Shanghai Lingang New Area, a series of favorable policies are traveling through this hot land. A certain technology Co., Ltd., which mainly operates wind turbine blades, often has a demand for cross-border trade receipts and payments in export sales, raw material imports, and business processes. In the past, when enterprises processed foreign exchange payments for goods trade in banks, they needed to provide proof materials such as contracts, invoices, or customs declarations one by one. For enterprises with frequent cross-border settlements, it was time-consuming and laborious. After obtaining the qualification for high-level opening up pilot projects in cross-border trade and investment, China Construction Bank quickly carried out access work for "high-quality enterprises" and explained the convenience of the new policies to them as soon as possible. Finally, under the careful guidance of the Shanghai Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, China Construction Bank completed the first pilot business within its jurisdiction and provided efficient financial services for enterprises to handle current account foreign exchange receipts and payments based on instructions. "The high-level opening-up pilot of cross-border trade and investment in the new area has made us' light hearted 'and greatly simplified our business processes," said the company's financial personnel.

Institutional innovation is an important aspect of the development of the Lingang New Area, and the implementation of the system is particularly important. In the past four years, Lingang has explored and implemented many innovative measures in international investment management, trade liberalization and facilitation, and financial openness. The implementation of innovation cannot be separated from the coordinated development of various institutions. Innovation by innovation and business by business, China Construction Bank actively explores and benchmarks international cross-border financial services, adheres to the principle of "customer-centric", timely transforms the latest policies into practical, feasible, and effective landing businesses, assists enterprises in production and operation activities, turns the advantages of institutional innovation into unlimited momentum for high-quality development, and fully promotes the construction of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone.

Empowers of the real economy

On this side, when it was learned that a leading domestic EDA company planned to invest in the Lingang New Area, China Construction Bank immediately visited the company and wrote and submitted a targeted comprehensive financial service plan based on the company's financial service needs. The plan was highly recognized by the client and successfully won the bid for the infrastructure loan of the company's investment project.

On the other hand, traditional Fortune Global 500 companies and artificial intelligence unicorn companies are planning to establish a joint venture subsidiary. Upon learning of this, China Construction Bank mobilized the entire bank to complete the design of a comprehensive financial service plan in Chinese and English in just 2 days, and conducted multiple online communications in the later stage. Ultimately, the company gained high recognition and won the bid to open the basic account and capital account of the joint venture company.

Since the establishment of the Lingang New Area, China Construction Bank has always kept up with the pace of enterprise development in the Lingang area. In supporting urban construction, real economy development, and industrial cluster agglomeration, China Construction Bank has played a leading role in financial institutions, supporting the construction of a number of major projects such as the Lingang Center, Dishui Lake Financial Bay, the Large Aircraft Aviation Industry Park, and the Lingang Industrial Zone's public rental housing; And increase investment in technology finance and green finance, fully supporting the high-quality development of eight cutting-edge industries, parks, and enterprises near the port, such as artificial intelligence, integrated circuits, high-end equipment manufacturing, and hydrogen energy.

In May of this year, the press conference and strategic cooperation signing ceremony of the China Construction Bank Technology and Finance Lingang Service Plan for "Dishui Becoming a Lake, Cultivating and Integrating New Construction" was held at the Lingang Center. This was also the summer premiere of the "Financial Day Series Activities" of the 2023 Dishui Lake Emerging Finance Conference. Chen Jinshan, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of the Party Working Committee and Director of the Management Committee of Lingang New Area, attended the event and witnessed the signing of the "Innovative Business · Comprehensive Cooperation Strategy Agreement" between the Management Committee of Lingang New Area and the Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank. The agreement stipulates that both parties will closely focus on national strategic deployment, with a focus on comprehensively deepening strategic cooperation in areas such as technology finance, fintech, talent services, housing leasing, and enterprise "going global".

During the event, China Construction Bank launched the "Jianhu Chain" technology industry finance comprehensive service initiative to serve the Lingang New Area, closely following the development pace of the Lingang New Area, continuously strengthening the power of technology finance to empower the real economy, providing more differentiated financial services and customized financial solutions to science and technology innovation enterprises that settle in the Lingang New Area, constructing a "science and technology industry finance circular chain" that "promotes innovation, stabilizes industrial supply, supplies production data, data chain funds, provides services, benefits talents, and talents emerge from innovation", helping "innovative development, industrial agglomeration, smooth supply, data credit enhancement, capital alliances, service entrepreneurship, and talent strengthening enterprises", and promoting the science and technology industry finance of the Lingang New Area. Comprehensive services contribute to the wisdom of China Construction Bank, realizing the dual spiral development of technology and finance interaction, and promoting a virtuous cycle of "technology industry finance".

The Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank also combines the strategic positioning of the Lingang New Area with Shanghai Lingang New Area Investment Holdings Co., Ltd., relying on the resources of both parties, and has listed 5 post stations under the management of Chentou Enterprise to build the Science and Technology Innovation Harbor. By building a science and technology innovation harbor, empowering science and technology innovation enterprises with the harbor, and creating a comprehensive ecosystem of "finance+incubation+industry+guidance".

As the "enabler" of the real economy, China Construction Bank adheres to the principle of "technology is the first productive force, talent is the first resource, and innovation is the first driving force", and strives to help the Lingang New Area attract and retain high-quality talents. The Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank and the Management Committee of Lingang New Area have launched comprehensive cooperation, providing exclusive services for "talent cards" to help talents settle and build nests in Lingang New Area, realizing their dreams. Construction Bank has specially launched the "Shanghai Jingcai Card" in Lingang, which is an exclusive bank card tailored for Lingang talents and issued simultaneously with credit and debit cards. Construction Bank fully considers the needs of such users and uses "Jingcai Card" as a carrier to create a system that integrates four major butler services, including housing, credit, wealth management, health, elderly care, and consumption, covering six major guarantees. Card rights are connected to personal consumption loans, rental housing, car purchases, and other aspects, striving to provide support for employment, housing purchase, and home settlement for talents in Lingang.

To attract and retain talents, the housing problem must be solved well. China Construction Bank leverages its traditional and innovative advantages in the housing sector, vigorously supports the construction of affordable housing, and assists in providing diverse and structurally reasonable rental housing. It has provided credit support for multiple housing rental projects, including public rental housing in Lingang Industrial Zone, Lingang Science and Technology City, Lingang Fengxian Park, top scientific community rental housing, and heavy equipment industrial zone rental housing.

High quality party building is the key to leading China Construction Bank to achieve high-quality development in the free trade zone.

The Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank deeply integrates party building work with business work, striving to transform the effectiveness of party building into high-quality development advantages. In order to further learn and deeply understand the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank actively explores new models of theoretical learning. With a "half month" cycle and using teaching party courses, exchanging experiences, and grassroots propaganda as carriers, it carries out a series of activities such as "learning from the 20th National Congress and making contributions to the new era" - "half month talks". Based on the existing reality, it builds a new platform for learning and education. Through the "three lectures" approach of Party branch secretaries taking the lead in giving lectures, branch party members taking turns in giving lectures, and inviting experts to provide guidance, we will promote all Party members and cadres in the bank to effectively strengthen theoretical learning, enhance communication and display, and improve their abilities.

China Construction Bank Shanghai Branch has always adhered to the concept of "rooted in fertile soil, moistening people's livelihoods", empowering vast rural areas with innovative products and high-quality services, continuously improving service quality and efficiency, and creating a "financial paradise". Adhere to the leadership of party building, build a "Taoyuan Original Heart is Red" party building service brand, establish a "Taoyuan Honey" party member on-site service team, provide high-quality financial services to streets, towns, and enterprises, further strengthen the awareness of red fortresses, business development orientation, and brand management philosophy, and achieve effective implementation in party building work, business development, and brand influence.

Never forget your original intention and keep your mission in mind.

Standing at a new starting point for the development of the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone and the Lingang New Area, China Construction Bank will continuously enhance its ability to serve national strategies, practice new financial concepts, focus on empowering the real economy, technological innovation and other dimensions, continue to support the high-quality development of the pilot free trade zone and the Lingang New Area, forge ahead in the process of supporting the construction of the free trade zone, and contribute the wisdom and strength of China Construction Bank to the development of the free trade zone.