OREANDA-NEWS. November 26, 2013. ICBC has continued to focus on cultural sector to support China's economic restructuring from the year to date. ICBC has stepped up efforts in innovation to provide cultural businesses with full-suite financial services.

As of end of September 2013, ICBC’s outstanding loan to cultural businesses has amounted to RMB 129.11 billion, up by RMB 24.08 billion or 22.9% from the beginning of the year, becoming one of the highest-growth sectors in terms of financing support.

ICBC offers diversified branded products tailored to different categories of cultural companies at various stages of development, said an executive with the Bank. ICBC is the first bank in China to launch financial product brochures and integrated financial service solutions for cultural sector. Meanwhile, ICBC has been actively exploring new approach to extend credit to cultural sector by developing a mechanism to ensure customized delivery of financial services.

ICBC provides multiple innovative products to address the issue of creative cultural businesses characterised by "light assets", which are visible, intangible and unavailable as a collateral". For example, ICBC launched a supply-chain financing product named "Film & TV Link", with which ICBC released loans to the production of over 30 TV dramas by factoring against accounts receivable collected from TV stations. For film production companies, by packaging multiple films for collective loan release, ICBC has supported over 20 best-selling movies including Tangshan Earthquake, Bodyguards and Assassins.

ICBC has also explored various methods such as debt instruments, investment banking and leasing to provide companies with integrated financing service. For cultural companies "going global", ICBC provides strong financial support by leveraging its strength in network, information and capital. For example, ICBC provided integrated financial services tailored to the embroidery art house founded by Yao Jianping, an icon of China's non-material cultural heritage (Suzhou embroidery). ICBC extended a working capital loan of RMB 22.80 million to Yao Jianping's company to boost the development of Suzhou embroidery.

In addition to supporting cultural companies, ICBC is also dedicated to address customers’ demand for cultural consumption by leveraging its extensive network and technological expertise. For example, ICBC issued ICBC China Travel Card together with China UnionPay and China National Tourism Administration, which enables cardholders to enjoy special services and discounts in tourist spots, hotels, insurance and shopping. In response to demand for art appreciation, ICBC worked with t3.com.cn, a nationwide art performance ticket service and trading platform, to facilitate consumers to buy art performance tickets.