According to Xinhua news agency, December 23, 2021, Premier Li Keqiang recently chaired an executive meeting of the State Council to determine cross cycle adjustment measures to promote the stable development of foreign trade; Deploy and implement the RCEP regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement after it enters into force. This year, China’s imports and exports grew rapidly, making an important contribution to stabilizing economic growth. However, at present, foreign trade is facing an increase in uncertain, unstable and unbalanced factors, including the cost rise represented by the sharp rise in international sea freight, commodity and raw material prices, labor wages, etc., which makes enterprises move forward with a heavy load. The growth of trade scale does not obtain a corresponding increase in benefits. With the recovery of production capacity in various countries, the substitution effect of overseas production gradually appears. The high-end technology advantages in Europe and the United States and the cost advantages in Southeast Asia will transfer orders. The long-term appreciation of RMB weakens the competitiveness of Chinese products in the international market, and the normalization of two-way exchange rate fluctuations also makes foreign trade enterprises have to do two-way hedging. The epidemic has exposed the vulnerability of the global supply chain system, and chip shortage and other events still occur. The executive meeting proposed that in order to further expand its opening-up, China needs to launch response measures against the difficulties and challenges faced, make cross cycle adjustment, help enterprises rescue, especially support small, medium-sized and micro enterprises, strive to maintain orders and stabilize expectations, and promote the steady development of foreign trade. Banks should play an active role, innovate policy financing and other products in combination with the needs of foreign trade enterprises, carry out targeted long-term foreign exchange settlement and sales business, improve the ability of foreign trade enterprises to deal with exchange rate risks, and further support the development of new foreign trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce. RCEP regional comprehensive economic partnership agreement will come into force on January 1, 2022. Banks and enterprises should seize the opportunity of the implementation of the agreement, enhance their competitiveness in the international market, further improve the development level of trade and investment, and force China’s industrial upgrading. The main concerns are as follows.
First, banks must introduce more supportive measures in stabilizing foreign trade. First, strengthen the business linkage between banks and SINOSURE companies to provide SINOSURE financing services for more foreign trade entities. Carry out detailed list management on SINOSURE’s target and potential customers, sort out the enterprises that have insured export trade insurance of SINOSURE, completed export customs declaration and have a good history of foreign exchange collection, and give priority to providing credit support. Strengthen the interaction with the government and export credit insurance companies, give full play to the advantages of the three parties, make good use of regional preferential policies, serve small and medium-sized foreign trade enterprises, and reduce the risk of contract performance and foreign exchange collection. Second, innovate financial hedging products and tools to improve the exchange rate risk management ability of foreign trade enterprises. For export enterprises, they can handle the financing business of early collection of foreign exchange such as discount of export commercial invoice and export documentary bill for enterprises, and apply to the bank for financing business after the enterprise delivers goods or submits documents, so as to shorten the time affected by exchange rate risk. For import enterprises, taking advantage of the global service advantages of multinational banks to handle cross-border supply chain financing for enterprises, relying on the credit of overseas core large enterprises, domestic enterprises apply to banks for cross-border RMB loans by order, which can not only avoid the risk of exchange rate fluctuation, but also reduce the financing cost of enterprises. Provide online and paperless foreign exchange derivatives trading services, and realize the real-time and dynamic management of foreign exchange inquiry and transaction with the help of the self-service foreign exchange settlement function of enterprise online banking and mobile banking, so as to facilitate foreign trade enterprises to carry out independent foreign exchange management according to their needs and prevent exchange rate risks in time. Third, carry out cooperation between banks and third-party companies to improve inclusive financial support for the logistics industry. Support the construction of new logistics infrastructure. Banks cooperate with logistics parks to provide supporting financial services for port digitization and green transformation. Support the development of small and medium-sized logistics enterprises. Through cooperation with third-party institutional platforms such as guarantee and factoring companies, explore online financing service modes such as data pledge and commercial bill pledge by using scientific and technological means such as big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Support logistics enterprises to go global, give full play to the cross-border service advantages of banks, help logistics enterprises build an export credit system, and support logistics enterprises to gradually integrate into the new development pattern of China’s international double cycle and mutual promotion under the strategic layout of “going global in the whole industrial chain”.
Second, banks must continue to strengthen financial service innovation for cross-border e-commerce. First, continuously reduce the operating risks and costs of cross-border e-commerce enterprises. While providing interest rate preference and fee reduction in account services, collection and payment settlement, financing and other aspects, the bank also gives full play to the professional advantages of foreign exchange and foreign trade, opens an expert consultation hotline in cross-border e-commerce developed areas, and provides enterprises with free consultation on foreign trade industry policies, financial product services, business handling processes and other aspects. At the same time, banks can also link with overseas branches to provide local policy consulting services for overseas markets of cross-border e-commerce. Second, innovate the “independent station” financial service model of cross-border e-commerce. Affected by the strengthened control of large platforms and large-scale “store closure” events, more and more cross-border e-commerce in China are transforming to “independent stations” to straighten the cross-border capital collection and payment process. Banks should keep pace with the times, explore direct collection services for cross-border e-commerce with “independent stations” established at sea, and help China’s high-tech “specialized and new” brand to the world. Third, support overseas warehouse construction projects of large cross-border e-commerce to reduce the operation cost of the industrial chain. Giving full play to its advantages in global operation, the bank supports traditional foreign trade enterprises and logistics enterprises to participate in the construction of overseas warehouses of cross-border e-commerce, including providing early-stage consulting services, Comprehensive utilization construction operation handover (BOT), structured financing and other investment and financing methods help enterprises diversify and build overseas warehouses. At different stages of leasing, construction and operation of overseas warehouses, they provide enterprises with targeted products and services such as global account opening, cargo pledge financing, internal guarantee and external loan, lease guarantee and so on. Fourth, explore richer online financing modes of cross-border e-commerce. Banks can use cross-border e-commerce funds to settle accounts With the big transaction data precipitated by the service, it actively connects with information channels such as customs, taxation and logistics, and comprehensively uses new technologies such as blockchain to provide cross-border e-commerce and related enterprises with online, paperless and intelligent financing services in the whole process. Fifth, support the construction of China’s cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone. Banks can connect with China’s cross-border e-commerce comprehensive pilot zone, provide financing, settlement and other financial support in supporting industries such as park infrastructure construction, Park logistics and distribution, third-party payment and technological innovation application, do a good job in customer portrait analysis in combination with the characteristics of the park, and explore the differentiated comprehensive service mode of cross-border e-commerce enterprises in the zone, Provide financial support for policy innovation and healthy development of enterprises in the comprehensive experimental zone.
Third, the implementation of RCEP will comprehensively promote the high-quality development of the banking industry. First, the reduction of intra regional trade barriers is conducive to the expansion of foreign investment by enterprises in the region, the optimization of global industrial layout, the provision of more service opportunities for banks, and the participation in the construction of major projects such as new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection, digital economy, infrastructure and interconnection in the region, which also helps to promote the development of China’s ESG industry and the export of high-tech products. Second, member states have reached high-level uniform rules for e-commerce, actively promoted paperless trade, electronic authentication and electronic signature, and formed a basic consensus in the field of cross-border information storage and data, which will bring greater convenience for banks to provide financial services to new international trade formats such as cross-border e-commerce and offshore trade, and promote the application of blockchain technology in cross-border payment Financing and other applications are implemented to enrich the digital currency service scenarios and improve the efficiency of international trade. Third, it helps the Bank Of China Limited(601988) industry to better expand the overseas market. At the same time, it also attracts more overseas banks to operate in China, brings competition to the Bank Of China Limited(601988) industry, but also injects new vitality into the financial market. The cross-border cooperation between banks and insurance, securities, funds and other financial institutions is more frequent, and promotes the improvement of the professional ability of financial services. Fourth, promote the internationalization of RMB, Promote ASEAN countries and regions to choose more RMB for pricing transactions, and improve the RMB two-way flow mechanism, which will help to improve the international influence of the Bank Of China Limited(601988) industry, better cultivate the RMB offshore market, reduce the exchange loss of enterprises, and provide new currency convenience for enterprises to carry out transnational operations. Fifth, RCEP’s provisions on new financial services, information transfer and processing not only bring new convenience to overseas data transmission of Chinese banks, but also put forward higher requirements for bank risk prevention and control and data security management, so as to promote the improvement of bank’s anti money laundering compliance management ability.
