Zhejiang banks bet big on high-tech drivers

Headquartered in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang, Star Airlines is the province's largest manufacturer of unmanned helicopters and a leading provider of unmanned aerial vehicle platforms and application solutions. Its products serve a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, forestry, emergency rescue and logistics, with more than 320 utility patents in areas such as air-ground operations and engine design.

The company has production bases in China and overseas operation centers in Hungary, Dubai and Singapore. It has developed an automated UAV production line that reduces production times by 60 percent.

"Our R&D investment is substantial — between 80 million yuan ($11.3 million) and 100 million yuan each year," said Chen Luodan, chairman of Star Airlines.

"We need continuous support from banks to bring our latest products to market quickly and capture first-mover advantages. It's quite surprising that a major bank like Bank of China can issue loans to high-tech firms like ours in just two or three days."

Zhou Jun, deputy general manager of Bank of China's Hangzhou branch, said Star Airlines has entered a stable growth phase, with solid revenue and mature sales channels. The bank has extended 45 million yuan in unsecured credit to five of its subsidiaries to support R&D and production.

"As the company scales up, it may seek an IPO," Zhou said. "As a full-license bank, we can leverage our subsidiaries in insurance, leasing, investment and securities to provide comprehensive financial services, from IPO advisory to investment-loan linkage."

Leapmotor is a tech-driven intelligent electric vehicle company based in Hangzhou. It is engaged in the design, research and development, and manufacture of intelligent EVs, as well as the development of assisted driving, electric motor control, battery systems and cloud computing-based vehicle networking solutions. As of September, Leapmotor had established over 1,700 sales and service outlets worldwide, with cumulative deliveries surpassing 1 million units.

To support the company's extensive procurement network of small suppliers, the Hangzhou branch of Bank of Jiangsu said it can design and provide a supply chain financing plan tailored to the company's operations in the future.

Stellantis, a Hoofddorp, Netherlands-based automaker, invested in Leapmotor in 2023. The two companies formed a joint venture in May 2024 to explore the international market. Bank of Jiangsu Hangzhou branch plans to provide import and export bill financing and foreign exchange derivatives to help Leapmotor manage exchange rate risks and maintain liquidity. The bank will follow the project's progress and expand lending support as Leapmotor advances construction of a production base for vehicles and core components.