OREANDA-NEWS. July 01, 2014. ICBC Singapore Branch and Suzhou Branch issued a cross-border RMB loan worth RMB 10 million to Technoform Bautec (Suzhou) Thermal Insulation Materials Co., Ltd., an outstanding energy-efficient and environment-friendly enterprise in Suzhou Industrial Park (“SIP”).

Based on the general clearing platform of the RMB clearing bank in Singapore, the fund was cleared from Singapore to Suzhou in a real-time basis, representing the first cross-border RMB loan in SIP. The innovative move will further expand the two-way cross-border RMB channel between China and Singapore, facilitate personal and corporate RMB fund transfer between the two countries, and contribute to the development of offshore RMB market in Singapore and internationalization of RMB.

In October 2013, the 10th meeting of the China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation was held in Singapore. During the meeting, the two sides harvested a number of fruits in bilateral financial cooperation, including “China’s support for  innovative cross-border RMB business with Singapore in the Suzhou Industrial Park and Tianjin Eco-city”. Recently, the Head Office of the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”) has approved PBOC Nanjing Branch of piloting four innovative cross-border RMB businesses, including Singaporean banking institutions’ granting of cross-border RMB loans to enterprises in SIP. On June 19, the innovative cross-border RMB business in Sino-Singapore SIP officially commenced as Suzhou Central Sub-branch of the PBOC issued detailed implementation rules and the information registration system for cross-border RMB loans was launched.

An official of ICBC Singapore Branch said that, ICBC has been committed to the innovation and promotion of cross-border RMB business as an RMB clearing bank in Singapore. Since the China-Singapore Joint Council for Bilateral Cooperation meeting was held in October last year, ICBC Singapore Branch and Suzhou Branch have been informing enterprises in SIP of the development of RMB market in Singapore and relevant financial products through various ways. By providing customized service package based on enterprises’ actual demands, the two branches secured intended cooperation with a number of enterprises in fields such as cross-border RMB loans. The issue of the first cross-border RMB loan suggests ICBC’s support for the innovative business cooperation between China and Singapore and the growth of enterprises in SIP has entered a substantial stage.