The Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), one of the country’s four major state-owned banks, debuted its “global matchmaking platform” at the 2023 Belt and Road Agricultural Cooperation and Development Forum recently held in Beijing.
The event was co-organised by the Department of International Cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, China Economic Information Service, and ABC.
Based on ABC’s customer data and fintech capabilities, the smart platform will match and push relevant business opportunities for both Chinese and overseas companies in the agriculture sector.
It will also release important information, and provide matching services regarding projects, products, exhibitions, and more.
Leveraging its presence worldwide, including Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Singapore, Seoul, Sydney, New York, Dubai, and Tokyo, the platform could effectively connect domestic businesses with each other as well as with overseas firms, improving their accessibility to global industrial supply chains.
Over the years, ABC has continuously expanded its portfolio, launching more than 80 types of cross-border financial products in seven categories — namely accounts, settlement, financing, financial credit, trading, investment banking, and trusteeship.
By establishing cross-border product systems, the bank aims to “fully meet the financial needs of enterprises”.
Bolstering regional growth
Since the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) was put forward in 2013, ABC has handled more than CNY15tn (USD2tn) of cross-border settlement.
To boost regional development, the bank launched an action plan in 2022 to serve the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
The RCEP is a free trade agreement between China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and 10 ASEAN member countries (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam).
In the first half of 2023, ABC handled USD117.8bn of international settlement, and provided CNY52.8bn (USD7bn) of international trade financing in the RCEP region.
The bank has also kept abreast of developments regarding the internationalisation of renminbi (RMB), and actively catered to demand for cross-border use of RMB in business transactions among the BRI countries.
In addition, it has successively launched the listing and trading of RMB with Vietnamese Dong, Laotian Kip, Thai Baht, and other currencies.
