Chongqing - Financial institutions in Chongqing and other western regions in China along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor (ILSTC) will assist in the infrastructure construction of the ILSTC and innovate financial service methods as the demand for financial services of enterprises along the route continues growing.

ILSTC Loan facilitates the capital flow

Chongqing Tengtian Technological Develop Co., Ltd., located in Bishan District, is an enterprise engaged in the production and sales of tricycles. The products will ship to Myanmar, Brazil, and other countries via ILSTC.

"Since the beginning of this year, the export orders of enterprises have continued to increase," said Bao Jun, the person in charge of Chongqing Tengtian Technological Develop Co., Ltd. "However, the payment cycle of accounts receivable has been delayed, and the working capital turnover is tough."

Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank recommended to the company the particular financial service, the ILSTC Loan, for foreign trade enterprises.

"Through the special financial service of ILSTC Loan, the company obtained two million yuan (about USD 290,000) of funds without collateral, which provided a strong guarantee for us to speed up production and meet order needs," Bao said.

Chongqing Guoyuan Port has become an important hub on the ILSTC. (Photo/Tang Yi)

As the largest port upstream of the Yangtze River, Chongqing Guoyuan Port has become an important hub on the ILSTC.

Supporting the construction of the port, Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank and Chongqing Port Logistics Group Co., Ltd. actively cooperated with the container yard capacity expansion project in the operation area of Guoyuan Port, issuing facility amount about 935 million yuan and 400 million yuan loans to enterprises.

As of the end of 2022, financial institutions in Chongqing have issued nearly 500 billion yuan loans for infrastructure projects of the ILSTC and trade logistics companies.

Deepen cross-border financial cooperation with ASEAN countries

Thailand Longan takes less than ten days from picking to being sold in supermarkets in western China cities such as Chongqing by taking the ILSTC rail intermodal train.

Last summer, the Thai subsidiary of Chongqing Hongjiu Fruit Co., Ltd., engaged in the high-end fruit import business, received the first loan of three million USD from Standard Chartered Bank. This is the first third-party market cooperation project in the financial field of the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Demonstration Project on Strategic Connectivity.

Chongqing Hongjiu Fruit Co., Ltd. staff carry the durians transported from Thailand. (Photo/Huang Wei)

"This loan is mainly used for the purchase of fresh fruits in Thailand, which plays an important role in improving our purchasing capabilities and exploring the local market," said Deng Hongjiu, chairman of Chongqing Hongjiu Fruit Co., Ltd.

Relying on the trade opportunities of the ILSTC, the company has operated 16 factories of origin in countries such as Thailand and Vietnam. Next step, the company will rely on the logistics network of the ILSTC to further expand the markets of ASEAN countries.

On April 21, the ILSTC Financial Services Consortium was formally established in Chongqing. Bank of Chongqing is the leading bank of the ILSTC Financial Services Consortium. 

Lin Jun, chairman of the Bank of Chongqing, said he looks forward to relying on the ILSTC Financial Services Consortium and the financial service platform to connect better financial supply, investment and financing needs, and economic and trade information.

"We will accelerate the realization of supply and demand matching collection, project financial docking and integration, provide high-quality services for corridor economic and trade industry linkage, and deepen cross-border and cross-regional financial cooperation," Lin added.