On May 13, ICBC and the Hubei Provincial Government signed the Strategic Cooperation Agreement on Giving Financial Support for Work Resumption in Hubei Province and Promoting High-quality Development of Economy and Society through remote video, to support the economic and social development of Hubei Province, and to make overall plans to foster pandemic prevention and control and economic and social development. ICBC was the first commercial bank to sign a strategic cooperation agreement with Hubei Province since the outbreak of the pandemic.  The signing event was graced by Secretary of Hubei Provincial Party Committee Ying Yong, Governor of Hubei Province Wang Xiaodong, Chairman of ICBC Chen Siqing, and President of ICBC Gu Shu. Vice Governor of Hubei Province Zhao Haishan and ICBC Senior Executive Vice President Wang Jingwu signed the agreement on behalf of both parties.

ICBC stated that despite the huge impact of the pandemic on Hubei Province, the economy in Hubei keeps a good momentum of steady growth, and economic fundamentals remain favorable for long-term growth, in which Hubei maintains its comprehensive advantages in economic and social development, and continues to play an important role in the overall situation and regional development. ICBC will increase its support for Hubei’s development and take this strategic cooperation agreement as an opportunity to make new and greater contributions to boosting work resumption, reaching target output, accelerating production and expanding coverage nationwide, and help Hubei speed up the full recovery of economic and social orders and high-quality development.

According to the agreement, ICBC will provide financing support of not less than RMB300 billion for the construction and development of key areas in Hubei Province in the next two years, covering investment and financing services such as loans, bonds, equity, agency, leasing and consulting.

First, public health and disease prevention and control system in Hubei will be improved. ICBC will propel the development of the medical and health industry chain, assist Hubei in building national-level medical centers and six regional medical centers, develop large-scale medical device groups with global influence, facilitate technological upgrade of superior pharmaceutical enterprises, and develop Hubei into a province strong in medical treatment and pharmacy in Central China.

Second, a Demonstration Zone of Innovation-driven Development amid the Rise of Central China will be actively set up in Hubei. Centering on the regional and industry strategic layout of the Province featuring “one chip (integrated circuits), two belts (the Yangtze River Economic Belt and the Hanjiang River Ecological Economic Belt), three zones (Western Hubei Green Development Demonstration Zone, Jianghan Plain Rejuvenation and Development Demonstration Zone and Eastern Hubei Transformation and Development Zone)”, ICBC will assist Hubei in the building of the national shipping center, logistics center, trade center, financial center in central China and assist in developing Wuhan into a national central city and an international cosmopolitan. It will give backing to Wuhan in terms of the building of the four national industry bases, including the National Aerospace Industry Base, National Memory Base, New Energy and Intelligent Connected Vehicle Base, and National Cyber Security and Talent Innovation Base. It will also support the development of the advanced manufacturing industry cluster and the trillion-level strategic emerging industry chain of “chip, display, intelligent terminal and internet”.

Third, demands for work resumption and reaching target output will be strongly supported. In active response to the needs of enterprises in such key areas as the “five medical fields”, life supplies guarantee, transportation and logistics, equipment manufacturing, energy and chemical industry, telecommunications operations, foreign trade and foreign investment, ICBC, further relying on the bank-government cooperation platform, will use all financing channels in a comprehensive way, to strengthen the coordination of industry chains, give targeted support in terms of work resumption and reaching target output, and empower the real economy.

Fourth, investment will be expanded, and weak link in key projects will be covered. ICBC will accelerate the investment and financing in the areas, including key public basic medical and health projects, key railway, highway, water transport, airport and other transportation projects, key water conservancy and hydropower projects, oil and gas energy projects, upgrade and capacity expansion of key environmental sanitation facilities, upgrade of municipal public utilities, and renovation of old residential areas in cities and towns.

Fifth, financial services concerning people’s livelihood will be broadened in an effective way. ICBC will take full advantage of its online and offline channels to innovate and improve its financing mode. It will take a proactive role in building the “mobile cabin of corporate financial services” and “4321” new type government-bank-guarantee institution cooperation mechanism in Hubei, guiding leading enterprises into  “professionalism, specialization and innovation”, and supporting work resumption and healthy development of private enterprises and those with distinct features.

To fully support the prevention and control of the pandemic and work resumption of enterprises, ICBC launched the “Chunrun Action” nationwide in late February, doing its utmost to facilitate the recovery of the real economy. As of the end of April, ICBC has granted loans of RMB544.6 billion to 25,800 firms in such key areas as medical care, people’s livelihood and transportation, and disbursed nearly RMB200 billion in financing, including bonds, wealth management and leasing. Specifically, a total of RMB33.1 billion in financing was provided to key enterprises in Hubei for work resumption. Principal and interest repayment of loans totaling RMB128.2 billion was deferred, and the interest period thereof was adjusted for more than 1,000 corporations, thus bailing out these distressed enterprises.