ICBC (New Zealand), a subsidiary of ICBC, has recently been granted admission to the New Zealand Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS), becoming the first new member over the past decade. Joining the BECS will not only elevate the status of ICBC (New Zealand) on the local financial market, but also enable customers to make local transfers and payments via Internet banking. This, along with businesses such as cross-border remittances and foreign exchange trading, represents the substantial leaps of ICBC (New Zealand)  in delivering local and cross-border services.

“As the first Chinese bank that entered New Zealand two years ago, ICBC (New Zealand) has achieved remarkable growth in local operations and cross-border businesses”, said Hou Qian, General Manager of ICBC (New Zealand). In terms of expanding the local market, the subsidiary now sees local customers make up more than 90% of its customers. It has established a full-fledged corporate deposit and loan product mix, and made breakthroughs in credit cooperation with main industries of the country. It also won the best debt financing award of New Zealand Finance Association for its participation in the Wellington expressway and 2degrees telecommunications projects. It has constantly enriched the varieties of corporate banking products, actively supported the development of Chinese-funded enterprises operating in the country, and rolled out trade financing products such as confirming warehouse financing, RMB-denominated letter of credit, and guarantees on rental properties.

For New Zealand, China is currently the largest source of overseas students and the second largest of overseas tourists. Based in the local market, ICBC (New Zealand) has focused on meeting the financial needs of China-related individuals such as overseas Chinese residents and students, employees of Chinese-funded enterprises, and tourists. It has launched a wide range of retail banking products such as account opening, remittance, foreign exchange trading, residential mortgage, dual-currency bank card, household trust account, retail bonds and immigrant bonds. In response to the strong demand for house purchase of immigrants, ICBC (New Zealand) has boosted residential mortgage service by making loan conditions more convenient for Chinese customers and launching a series of products such as fixed rate and adjustable rate mortgage, household trust account and mortgage-backed retail bonds and immigrant bonds. These efforts have won high recognition from customers. By the end of 2015, its residential mortgage balance had exceeded NZD100 million. To facilitate consumption for New Zealanders travelling in China, ICBC has, together with China UnionPay, launched dual-currency debit cards and credit cards in New Zealand, greatly reducing the currency conversion fees of tourists. Catering for the needs of Chinese students studying in New Zealand, ICBC launched the account opening witness business. Domestic ICBC outlets can open accounts of ICBC (New Zealand) for students before they even go to New Zealand. And after they come to the country, ICBC (New Zealand) can provide financial services such as Internet banking and credit cards with relatively higher overdraft amount in an efficient way.

New Zealand’s economy is highly complementary to the Chinese economy in that it relies a lot on agriculture, has abundant resources of the primary industry, and enjoys a broad space for agricultural investment. Therefore, a growing number of Chinese enterprises are being attracted to invest in New Zealand. Chinese investment in New Zealand has maintained positive momentum. Large Chinese enterprises such as Yili, Mengniu, Huawei, COSCO and CFGC have successively made foray into New Zealand. In the foreseeable future, bilateral trade and investment between the two countries will enjoy huge potential. In particular, investment and M&As in such fields as dairy, forestry, infrastructure and construction have become increasingly robust. Backed by the Group’s strength and through the synergy between domestic and overseas institutions, ICBC has provided a wide range of financial services for trade and investment of Chinese enterprises operating in New Zealand. Since the two governments approved direct trading between RMB and NZD in March 2014, ICBC has capitalized on the synergy between the domestic and overseas markets, constantly enriched the varieties of RMB-denominated cross-border services, and completed the first direct exchange between the two currencies in New Zealand. It is also the only Chinese bank that has signed cross-border RMB strategic cooperation MOUs with the four big banks of New Zealand. Meanwhile, relying on its cross-border e-commerce platform “eBuy”, ICBC launched the New Zealand mall on November 6, 2015, selling more than 100 kinds of popular products imported from New Zealand. ICBC (New Zealand) imposes strict review on the products to ensure the quality, so that Chinese consumers can buy quality products of New Zealand without going abroad. Since the mall was opened, ICBC (New Zealand) has provided cross-border payment, foreign exchange trading and trade financing services for online merchants, helping local manufactures to expand their presence in the Chinese market.

According to Hou Qian, the government of New Zealand released in 2015 its infrastructure development plan for the next 30 years, drawing a blueprint for infrastructure construction and renovation. Over the past 30 years of rapid economic development, Chinese enterprises have accumulated rich experience in infrastructure construction. They are in a position to support the infrastructure construction of New Zealand under the guidance of the “Belt and Road” Initiative. With its expertise in infrastructure lending, ICBC can help Chinese enterprises to better adapt to the political, economic and legal environments of New Zealand, and provide quality services and strong support for Chinese enterprises taking part in infrastructure projects in New Zealand. Moreover, with the advance of RMB internationalization and the direct trading between RMB and NZD, a growing demand exsits for trade companies of both countries to use RMB as a trade settlement currency. In response, ICBC will continue to advance the cross-border RMB business, diversify products, expand cooperation with local banks, provide strong liquidity support for the growing demand for RMB on the New Zealand market, and further promote bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.