Tianjin becomes center for financial leasing

Nightview of Tianjin. [Photo provided to China Daily]

ICBC Financial Leasing Co Ltd, the largest financial leasing company by assets in Tianjin and established in 2007, will continue to strengthen its efforts to innovate in the field of financial leasing.

The company helped Ningbo Meishan-Island International Container Terminal Co Ltd to purchase equipment from other countries and took innovative measures to reduce taxes for the company in Sept 2015.

"This is done by duty-free leasing, a new type of leasing possible between companies in duty-free zones," said Tao Mei, vice-president of ICBC Financial Leasing.

"We set up a special purpose vehicle (that is, a subsidiary of a company which is created for only a specific use and is bankruptcy remote in the sense that it is not on the books of the main organization) in Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone of Tianjin. Ningbo Meishan-Island is located in another local free trade zone. As a result, the company benefits from tax relief, with a reduction of at least 17 percent of the value-added tax," Tao added.

Tianjin has developed into an innovative base for China's financial leasing industry, according to financial leasing company executives and local government officials.

Earlier this year, CMB Financial Leasing paid $200 million for a sale and lease-back business in foreign currencies, which is the first of its kind nationwide.

"It will help cut exchange rate losses for the lessee and save financial costs by more than $2 million each year," said Zhou Ling, general manager of the shipping leasing department of CMB Financial Leasing.

At the end of March, total assets of financial leasing companies registered in Tianjin reached more than 770 billion yuan ($116 billion), accounting for around a quarter of the total amount nationwide.

"Tianjin is the first in China to implement dozens of innovative service models, including duty-free leasing, cross-border leasing and offshore leasing," said Kong Dechang, director of Tianjin Municipal Bureau of Financial Affairs.

As the most important area of the financial leasing industry in Tianjin, Dongjiang Free Trade Port Zone features leasing services for aircraft, ships and ocean engineering equipment. At the end of June, the total leasing assets related to the three main business areas reached $40 billion.

Tianjin will further accelerate innovation to boost the growth of financial leasing. The city is planning to launch China Tianjin Leasing Platform and China Financial Leasing Register and Transfer Platform, which are waiting for approval by the State Council.

"Aiming to support the development of the financial leasing industry, the two platforms will be open to all financial leasing companies nationwide. They will offer registration and transferring services for financial leasing assets worth a total of 4 trillion yuan," said Zhang Aiguo, director of Tianjin Commission of Commerce.

Wang Ying contributed to this story.