A leading Chinese economist has called for the country’s banks and enterprises to join together in a concerted effort to expand their combined presence in overseas markets.
Huang Jianhui (黄剑辉), head of the China Minsheng Bank Research Institute and chief economist at the China Academy of New Supply-side Economics, said that Chinese banks should establish a digital platform to serve Chinese enterprises seeking to expand abroad.
Speaking at a forum on Chinese enterprises expanding overseas held on 19 October, Huang said that this app-based platform would be “akin to a taxi platform, with financial institutions grabbing orders when enterprises have demand.”
“Different financial institutions can grab online orders at the same time, providing services in multiple areas including cross-border trade settlement, investment, financing, transactions and leasing,” said Huang.
“Everyone can choose a bank based on the service capability and pricing of different financial institutions, achieving both convenience and price reductions via competition.”
Huang also called for Chinese banks to follow Chinese companies into overseas markets in order to provide better services to their efforts to expand abroad.
“Chinese-invested enterprises and Chinese-invested banks must form an aircraft carrier fleet, with Chinese-invested banks going wherever industrial and commercial enterprises go, achieving integrated operation domestically and internationally,” said Huang. “Chinese banks must achieve internationalisation and implement a strategy of pursuit.”
As of the end of 2019 over 27,500 domestic Chinese investors had made direct foreign investments in 44,000 enterprises located in 188 different countries and regions, while over 80% of the world’s countries were recipients of Chinese investments.
The assets of Chinese-invested enterprises abroad were worth USD$7.2 trillion in total as of the end of 2019.
