On December 5th, the "Guidelines for Pilot Business of Green Foreign Debt in Zhejiang Province (Trial)" issued by the Zhejiang Branch of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange officially came into effect. Zhejiang Commercial Bank responded actively, with multiple branches in Shaoxing, Taizhou, Huzhou, and other cities registering green foreign debt in the province on the same day, totaling US$26.75 million. This marks a significant step forward for financial institutions in Zhejiang Province in supporting the development of green finance and facilitating cross-border financing for green industries, injecting financial momentum into the green transformation of the real economy.
Precise alignment helps policies be implemented efficiently.
It is understood that the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Foreign Exchange has launched a pilot policy for green foreign debt, clarifying that for eligible domestic non-financial enterprises that raise RMB and foreign currency funds from non-residents specifically to support compliant green and low-carbon transformation projects, the category risk conversion factor can be reduced from 1 to 0.5. This adjustment effectively reduces the risk-weighted balance of cross-border financing for enterprises, helps them expand their cross-border financing scale, and provides strong policy support for enterprises to introduce low-cost overseas funds.
Under the guidance of the Zhejiang Provincial Administration of Foreign Exchange, Zheshang Bank immediately organized a professional team to interpret the key points of the policy, improve its internal system, and coordinate the head office and branches to conduct a survey of customer needs. The bank screened out enterprises with green foreign debt financing needs, and conducted door-to-door visits to explain the policy advantages and answer questions on-site. This ensured a precise match between policy benefits and enterprise needs, and bridged the "last mile" of policy transmission. As a result, the bank successfully completed the first batch of green foreign debt registration business on the first day of policy implementation.
Direct access to financing enhances enterprises' sense of access to green financing.
The green foreign debt policy has brought tangible development dividends to enterprises. It has not only significantly increased the upper limit of cross-border financing for enterprises, allowing them to have more sufficient capital reserves, but also greatly reduced the processing procedures and improved the efficiency of capital turnover by the one-stop business processing model launched by Zhejiang Commercial Bank, accurately meeting the timeliness needs of enterprises for raw material procurement.
Wan Yang, General Manager of the International Business Department of Zhejiang Commercial Bank, told reporters that Zhejiang Newtex Import & Export Co., Ltd., one of the companies in the first batch of green foreign debt registration business, holds carbon footprint label certification for specific textile fabrics. The financing will be used specifically for the overseas parent company's purchase and processing of low-carbon fabrics, which is highly consistent with the policy guidance of green foreign debt.
"The green foreign debt policy came at just the right time. The amount is high and the business process is simple and smooth, which makes us feel the precise support of the policy for green enterprises." The person in charge of the company said frankly that they will increase their investment in the procurement of low-carbon fabrics to further consolidate their green competitive advantage in the industry.
Working together to build a comprehensive cross-border financial service system
The successful launch of this first batch of pilot programs is a microcosm of Zhejiang Commercial Bank's commitment to foreign trade services and its implementation of policy innovation. In recent years, Zhejiang Commercial Bank has innovatively launched five major cross-border financial service systems to meet the diverse cross-border financial service needs of enterprises: global accounts and settlement, integrated liquidity lending, one-stop investment and financing services, immersive customer-facing foreign exchange transactions, and scenario-based new foreign trade business models.
Taking cross-border settlement as an example, the bank has built a comprehensive cross-border settlement service system. In response to the settlement needs of enterprises in emerging markets, it has innovatively launched a small-currency foreign exchange receipt and payment service, which not only improves settlement efficiency but also effectively reduces settlement costs. At the same time, it actively promotes the pilot program for high-level opening up of cross-border trade and investment, ensuring the convenience of foreign exchange receipt and payment for enterprises.
In terms of exchange rate hedging, relying on the "Zhejiang Bank Global Trading Treasure" digital product and foreign exchange trading product system, a normalized service mechanism of "daily visits + online services + themed activities" has been established.
In terms of financing support, Zhejiang Commercial Bank has innovatively launched the "Export Data Loan" and "Export Tax Loan" big data credit granting models, along with online financing products such as the "Export Bill Convenience Loan". Relying on the resources of its Hong Kong branch and the Free Trade Zone FTU, it has tailored cross-border financing solutions to effectively solve the problems of difficult credit granting and complicated financing for foreign trade enterprises, and accurately deliver financial resources to enterprises "going global".
