Xinhua Finance and Economics, Shanghai, December 18 (Reporter Wang Shujuan) As one of the main forces, the growth rate of green loan supply in the banking industry continues to grow at a high rate, and the "green content" of credit continues to rise, contributing to the backbone of promoting the realization of the "double carbon" goal. Recently, Xinhua Financial Reporter investigated the Shanghai Branch of the Agricultural Bank of China to see how the Agricultural Bank of China promotes the practice of green finance in Shanghai.
Incremental expansion: Double-digit growth in green credit
As a global systemically important bank and one of the most important comprehensive financial service providers in China, ABC has nearly 230,000 branches. As of the end of September 2023, the balance of ABC's green credit business was 38 trillion yuan, an increase of 1 from the end of the previous year1 trillion yuan, with a growth rate of 42%, and the balance, increment and growth rate all hit a record high. As a branch of Agricultural Bank of China in Shanghai, ABC Shanghai Branch has established a working committee for carbon peak and carbon neutrality of green finance, and formulated an action plan to accelerate the development of green finance based on the actual business situation in Shanghai, and clarified the development path of green finance business. As of the end of November 2023, the green credit scale of ABC Shanghai Branch exceeded 130 billion yuan, an increase of more than 30 billion yuan from the beginning of the year, and the growth rate reached 33%, much higher than the overall loan growth rate.
It is reported that the Agricultural Bank of China has set green finance as one of the three major strategies during the "14th Five-Year Plan" period, accelerated the exploration of new models and paths to serve the green and low-carbon transformation of the economy and society, and gave full play to the demonstration and leading role of large state-owned banks in the field of green finance. In terms of goals, we strive to achieve three goals: expanding business increments, striving to become a first-class green brand, and implementing environmental and climate risk management.
The Lingang Park (Phase I) project of Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences is a specific practice of ABC Shanghai Branch to implement the national strategic layout and serve green finance and science and technology finance around the requirements of high-quality development.
The park is committed to building a new green infrastructure, starting from the major national strategic needs, positioning itself as an international top research center in the field of physical science, integrating the advantages of automation technology, life science, material science and other aspects.
In order to further support green development and serve science and technology finance, Xuhui Sub-branch under the jurisdiction of Agricultural Bank of China Shanghai Branch has provided efficient approval and loan support for the project. It is reported that the total investment of the project is 84.4 billion yuan, in July 2023, Xuhui Sub-branch completed the first loan, and has invested a total of 54.54 million yuan according to the progress of the project. This is a manifestation of ABC's strengthened organization and policy guarantees, and differentiated policy support such as preferential interest rates and approval authority for major projects in the green economy.
Innovation-driven: Product and service innovation is emerging
The Action Plan for Promoting the Development of Green Finance and Serving the Carbon Peak and Carbon Neutrality Strategy of Shanghai's Banking and Insurance Industry during the 14th Five-Year Plan Period proposes that by 2025, the efficiency of comprehensive green finance services will continue to improve, and the balance of green financing is expected to exceed 15 trillion yuan;The innovation capacity of green finance has been continuously improved, and a replicable and promotable Shanghai plan for green finance has been formed.
In response to and practicing the national "dual carbon" strategy, Bank of Shanghai continues to innovate green and low-carbon financial products with green credit projects as the starting point, and comprehensively optimizes green financial services to help the high-quality development of the "dual carbon economy".
Under the guidance of the "dual carbon" goal, ABC Shanghai Branch also focuses on expanding the intersection of service green development and service technological innovation, and drives the high-quality development of Shanghai's science and technology enterprises.
"Specialized, special and new" enterprise Ince Technology is an innovative company that provides intelligent detection solutions for industrial gases, mainly serving customers such as Baowu Carbon and other large group companies and industrial parks, helping enterprises to grasp the gaseous pollutant emissions in the park in real time and realize green and intelligent manufacturing in industrial plants. The enterprise needed to purchase raw materials for pollution source monitoring, put forward financing needs to the Shanghai branch of the Agricultural Bank of China, and the Agricultural Bank of China assessed that the enterprise met the green loan classification standards for pollution source monitoring, communicated and coordinated with the enterprise, the science and technology commission, and the guarantee company, quickly responded to determine the specific loan plan, and worked together with the front and back office to expedite the approval, and successfully issued a performance loan of 3 million yuan for the enterprise.
With the support and guidance of supporting policies, banks have become increasingly rich in the field of green credit, and innovation in green financial products and services has emerged one after another.
Shanghai Lanyun Environmental Technology Co., Ltd. is a technology-based enterprise that provides a full range of cleaning services, and was rated as a "specialized, refined, special and new" enterprise in Shanghai in 2021. At the beginning of 2022, Shanghai Blue Cloud's operation was hindered, the return of sales funds was delayed, and there were large labor fees to be paid every month. Just when the enterprise was at a loss, the Shanghai branch of the Agricultural Bank of China took the initiative to connect with the enterprise and immediately handled a loan of 10 million yuan for Shanghai Blue Cloud, ensuring the normal operation of Shanghai Blue Cloud's projects in many places across the country and helping the company to survive the difficult moment. In 2022, the overall development trend of the company is good, and it has also won new bids for projects such as Hangzhou Xiaoshan Airport T3 Terminal, Wuxi Henglong Plaza, and Shanghai Caohejing Development Zone.
With the increase in the business volume of Shanghai Blue Cloud, the demand for enterprise cleaning tool procurement and labor expenses has also increased correspondingly, and at the beginning of 2023, the development of enterprises has once again encountered a bottleneck. After many rounds of research and communication, combined with the actual situation of the enterprise, the Agricultural Bank of China designed and updated the financing plan, cooperated with Shanghai Pudong Science and Technology Guarantee Company, and added a new "science and technology loan" of 5 million yuan for the enterprise in April this year. With the support of this funding, the company's development has entered the fast lane, and as of the end of June 2023, the company's sales revenue has increased by about 40% compared with the same period in previous years.
The relevant person in charge of the Shanghai branch of the Agricultural Bank of China said that in the future, it will adhere to the path of ecological priority and green development, continue to increase financial support for green and low-carbon industries, and achieve high-quality development while contributing to the sustainable development of the economy and society.
Editor: Tan Rui.
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