Accelerating the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor is a clear requirement put forward in the "15th Five-Year Plan" proposal. To further improve the quality and efficiency of financial services for the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, the People's Bank of China, together with seven other departments including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Transport, recently jointly issued the "Opinions on Financial Support for Accelerating the Construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor" (hereinafter referred to as the "Opinions").
The "Opinions" document revolves around the development theme of "the corridor driving logistics, logistics driving trade, and trade driving industry." Adhering to a problem-oriented approach, multi-cross collaboration, adaptation to local conditions, and integrated development, it proposes 21 key measures in six aspects: improving the organizational collaboration system, strengthening financial services, optimizing cross-border fund settlement facilitation, supporting the digital transformation of corridor finance, accelerating the leading role of financial opening-up and cooperation, and strengthening the prevention and control of corridor financial risks. These measures aim to comprehensively enhance the financial service capacity of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and help form a new pattern of opening up to the outside world characterized by "land-sea internal and external linkage and mutual benefit between east and west."
In recent years, guided by national strategy, the Western Land-Sea New Corridor has gradually grown into an open, developmental, and strategic corridor that accelerates internal and external connectivity. As the main financial force driving the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, banking institutions are fully leveraging their advantages to comprehensively serve its development. Several industry experts interviewed stated that the issuance of the "Opinions" has clarified the direction and identified key areas for the banking industry to support the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor in the current and future periods.
From serving the local area to cross-regional collaboration
The issuance of the "Opinions" is of great significance for banking financial institutions to establish a cross-regional financial cooperation mechanism in the process of serving the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor.
"Currently, in terms of organizing and coordinating the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, the banking industry faces the problem of a lack of regular and institutionalized cooperation platforms between banks and between banks and entities such as the government, logistics, and customs," said Lou Feipeng, a researcher at China Postal Savings Bank, in an interview with the Financial Times.
At the same time, Lou Feipeng mentioned that at present, there are still some problems such as slow response to cross-provincial services by some banks, poor connection mechanism with financial institutions in ASEAN, Central Asia and other countries along the Belt and Road, insufficient coverage of correspondent banking network, and low efficiency of cross-border settlement.
The "Opinions" document provides clear guidance on these pressing issues. "The 'Opinions' emphasize breaking down regional barriers," said Lu Lei, a member of the Party Committee and Vice Governor of the People's Bank of China, at a press conference held on December 25. He explained that the "Opinions" promote coordinated development of the financial system by strengthening coordination at three levels: linking finance and the real economy within provinces and municipalities; cross-regional financial system linkages between provinces; and cross-border financial cooperation with ASEAN countries and other countries along the corridor. This will jointly contribute to building a new development pattern with the domestic cycle as the mainstay and the domestic and international cycles mutually reinforcing each other.
"The 'Opinions' document outlines a path for banking institutions to improve, including promoting integrated credit granting for branches along the Belt and Road, strengthening Chongqing's overall coordination function, and establishing a regular financial cooperation mechanism along the Belt and Road," said Xue Hongyan, a special researcher at Jiangsu Commercial Bank. He added that financial institutions should actively innovate their product systems, optimize their overseas branch network, build a service network linking domestic and international operations, and improve collaborative efficiency through special mechanisms and performance-based pricing.
From traditional models to digital ecosystems
Digital and intelligent financial services are a highlight of banking financial institutions' support for the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor, and also a direction encouraged by the "Opinions".
Chongqing is a crucial node in the China-Europe Railway Express and a logistics and operational hub for the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Western China, playing a key leading role in advancing the Belt and Road Initiative. Here, the Chongqing Branch of the Bank of China fully leverages its professional advantages, proactively integrating into the blockchain construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, promoting innovation in settlement and financing services for logistics companies, and facilitating convenient freight settlement. Simultaneously, the bank utilizes its members in the Digitalization Working Group for Shipping and Trade to launch several innovative pilot businesses in Chongqing, including cross-border remittances, letters of credit, and guarantees, contributing to the digitalization and intelligentization of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
"Compared to traditional business models, financial digitalization has significant advantages: more accurate risk identification, through big data and artificial intelligence technologies, it can monitor logistics, capital flow, and information flow in real time, and dynamically assess the credit status of enterprises; more efficient service, with online and automated approval processes significantly shortening financing time and providing 24/7 uninterrupted service," said Zeng Gang, chief expert and director of the Shanghai Financial and Development Laboratory, in an interview with the Financial Times. He added that financial digitalization also offers advantages such as optimized cost control, reduced reliance on manual operations and offline branches, lower operating costs; and more flexible product innovation, with the ability to quickly iterate financial products based on scenario data, accurately matching enterprise needs.
In line with the requirements of the "Opinions," industry experts stated that in the future, banking financial institutions should deeply participate in the construction and application of digital platforms and promote data interoperability with government platforms. "At the same time, they should strengthen cooperation with fintech companies to solidify their own technological foundation for digital transformation, so as to better support the digital transformation of channel finance," said Xue Hongyan.
From following and participating to leading innovation
The New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Western China converges with the sea in Guangxi. Under the policy guidance of accelerating the construction of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Western China, Guangxi is actively building a comprehensive transportation corridor that connects domestic and international destinations.
The Guangxi branch of the China Development Bank, focusing on the needs of the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor in Guangxi, innovatively adopted a loan-investment linkage model to provide 7.373 billion yuan in funding support for the Pinglu Canal project. During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the bank cumulatively issued loans totaling 1.827 billion yuan for 13 port and supporting infrastructure projects and logistics infrastructure projects in the region, helping Beibu Gulf Port improve its throughput capacity and logistics support, making Guangxi's "gateway to the sea" smoother and its "circle of friends" broader. Today, relying on the smooth land-sea corridor, Guangxi's economic and trade exchanges with ASEAN and coastal areas of China are even closer.
The continued strengthening of economic and trade ties with the ASEAN region is one of the areas benefiting from the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor. "The Western Land-Sea New Corridor connects the Beibu Gulf and the Indian Ocean sea route to the south, and the Central Asian countries along the ancient Silk Road to the west, reaching Europe directly. It is a key node of the 'Belt and Road' initiative. Regarding financial support for the 'Belt and Road' initiative, the key is to promote the continuous expansion of financial connectivity, carry out various forms of financial cooperation with relevant countries, and form a well-defined and large-scale financial cooperation network," said Lu Lei.
In the process of financial opening-up and innovative development, the role of the banking industry needs to gradually shift from a participant in the open and cooperative system to an innovation leader.
The requirements outlined in the "Opinions" such as "establishing and improving financial cooperation and exchange mechanisms," "exploring interconnection between domestic and foreign financial markets," and "exploring international cooperation in digital finance" all necessitate that the banking industry assume greater responsibility in serving the construction of the Western Land-Sea New Corridor.
"The banking industry should actively collaborate with domestic and foreign financial institutions, regulatory agencies, and international organizations to export financial solutions that align with the characteristics of regional economic and trade relations, thereby helping to build a unified, transparent, and interoperable financial infrastructure," Lou Feipeng told the Financial Times.
