“Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily”, September 9 (Reporter Zhang Yangyang) Technological innovation begins with technology and becomes capital. At the 2024 Pujiang Innovation Forum, the conference held a series of thematic forums focusing on technology finance topics, focusing on preparing major articles on technology finance, focusing on investing early, investing in the long term, and investing in hard technology to build a full-chain, full-life cycle financial service system for technology-based enterprises from startup to maturity, and promote technology demand and financial supply in both directions.

From scientific research to transformation of achievements to industrial development, every step is inseparable from financial support. As one of the key participants in technology finance services, Zhou Jie, Deputy Governor of the Shanghai Branch of China Construction Bank Corporation Limited, was interviewed by a reporter from the “Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily” in the afternoon of the conference.

▍ Build a full-process financial solution from “0-100”

Zhou Jie said that using financial instruments such as equity, credit, bonds, and insurance in an integrated manner, the Shanghai branch of China Construction Bank uses technology to serve technology, service innovation through innovation, and ecology to serve the ecosystem. It provides technology enterprises with full-chain, full-function, full-life cycle financial services, and invests more financial resources early, small, long-term, and hard technology to help improve the functions of the Shanghai Global Science and Technology Innovation Center and promote the virtuous cycle of “technology-industry-finance.”

In terms of policy support, according to Zhou Jie, since 2023, CCB Shanghai Branch has been committed to providing a full chain of comprehensive financial services to various science and innovation entities. In 2023, the “0 to 10” Financial Plan to Support Science and Innovation was innovated. Based on capital investment and risk characteristics at different life cycle stages of the technology, financing solutions including 4 categories and 18 products were designed around the 4 dimensions of “supply side, demand side, capital side, and service side” of technology, and a comprehensive service plan was planned to better serve early scientific and technological innovation and transformation of achievements.

Also in 2023, CCB Shanghai Branch also designed the “Build Shanghai Chain” Technology Industry Financial Comprehensive Service Plan, which covers 7 categories and 40 products and services. Using the “Jian·Shanghai Chain” brand, it launched the “Seven Chains” program to build a “science and innovation ecological cycle chain” that “innovation promotes stable supply of the industry, supplies production data, data chain capital, capital has services, services benefit talents, and talents generate innovation” to help “innovate and develop, industry agglomeration, smooth supply, data credit enhancement, capital alliances, service entrepreneurship and strong talent enterprises”

This year, CCB Shanghai Branch once again upgraded its service plan and launched the “Building Shanghai Chain” Technology Industry Finance “Equity, Loan and Debt Insurance” Linkage Plan, which collaborates with Shanghai's major direct equity investment institutions, private equity institutions, industrial investment institutions, securities companies, insurance companies, guarantee agencies, CCB Group subsidiaries (investments, trusts, funds, insurance), and investment service agencies to meet the comprehensive financial needs of science and innovation entities for technological innovation, transformation of achievements, and industrial development.

In April of this year, CCB Shanghai Branch also launched the “Financial Service Plan to Leverage the Comprehensive Technology Finance Hub Function of Commercial Banks”, which aims to provide full life cycle financial support for startup technology enterprises to explore and innovate, accelerate development of growing technology enterprises, and transform and upgrade mature technology enterprises. Through external credit enhancement such as investment, financing guarantees, risk compensation, etc. through various forms such as investment, financing guarantees, risk compensation, etc., as well as science and innovation companies' own credit enhancement, equity, loan, and debt insurance collaboration to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators, to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators, to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators, to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators, to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators, to meet the financing needs of science and technology innovators.

“Through the introduction of the above series of programs, CCB Shanghai Branch has basically a full-process financial solution for technological '0 to 1' innovation, 'from 1 to 10' and 'from 10 to 100' industrialization. It can provide comprehensive financial services for start-ups and innovation, accelerate the development of growing technology enterprises, transformation and upgrading of mature technology enterprises, and innovative sources for scientific and technological talents, research institutes, science parks, and incubation bases.” Zhou Jie said.

Judging from the implementation results, as of the end of July 2024, the CCB Shanghai Branch Financial Supervisory Authority's loan balance for technology enterprises was 137.932 billion yuan, an increase of 30.271 billion yuan over the beginning of the year. The increase was relatively rapid, with a non-performing rate of 0.20%.

The Financial Supervisory Authority's balance of inclusive science and innovation loans was 15.648 billion yuan, an increase of 3.661 billion yuan over the beginning of the year, an increase of 30.50%.

There were 15,396 service technology enterprises, an increase of 1,530 compared to the beginning of the year; the number of lenders for technology-based enterprises was 6,215, an increase of 919 from the beginning of the year, an increase of 17.35%.

Since 2023, CCB Group's subsidiaries have invested 5.483 billion yuan in technology enterprises in Shanghai, and underwritten a cumulative amount of 2.978 billion yuan in science and technology innovation notes. Cooperation with the Shanghai Guarantee Fund has provided a total credit amount of 0.5 billion yuan for small and micro technology enterprises.

▍ Controlling financial risks through ecological collaboration

However, scientific and technological innovation is risky, and there is uncertainty about the transformation of achievements and industrial development. For banking institutions, managing these risks is also an important part.

Zhou Jie admits that although China's social financing has always been mainly indirect financing, and the banking system has accumulated a large amount of credit resources and service capabilities, it is difficult to fully implement comprehensive financial services throughout the entire life cycle of enterprises and technology in the technology industry with the help of a single commercial bank alone.

To this end, CCB's Shanghai branch's corresponding solution is to adhere to the two-wheel drive of direct financing and indirect financing, cooperate and complement each other, and form an alliance to promote comprehensive financial services for the technology industry.

According to Zhou Jie, in 2023, CCB Shanghai Branch will integrate resources from government departments, institutions and CCB Group at all levels to use the functions of commercial banks, investment banks, trusts, funds, insurance, leasing, etc., to organize financial institutions, venture capital institutions, key institutions, enterprise groups, service agencies, expert consultants and other units to initiate the establishment of the “Construction • Shanghai Chain” technology industry finance alliance.

Bank credit is used to guarantee the supply of basic capital for science and innovation, venture capital is used to increase the supply of funds to guide science and innovation, and value-added services are used to build a science and innovation ecological cycle system, with all-round linkage, collaboration of all elements, and integration of all functions. This characteristic technology financial service system not only serves the development of the technology industry, but also controls financial system risks.

Furthermore, technology is being used to promote comprehensive financial services for the technology industry. CCB pioneered the “technology flow” exclusive evaluation system (adopted by the State Council in February 2020 and promoted nationwide). “Don't look at bricks, look at patents” to quantify and measure the intellectual property rights and innovation capabilities of technology enterprises, transform them into credit evaluation results, and increase trust for technology enterprises.

Since March 2023, CCB has upgraded indicators, models, data, computing power, and algorithms to measure the value of scientific and technological innovation displayed by science and innovation entities in the “Science and Innovation Ecological Cycle Chain”, which has been transformed into credit evaluation results. “Don't look at reports, look at ecology”, and increase trust for science and innovation entities.

CCB Shanghai Branch uses CCB's financial technology strategy support and CCB headquarters's technology resources in Shanghai to open the Shanghai Zone on June 11, 2023. On July 2, 2023, CCB Shanghai Branch officially launched the 1.0 version of the science and innovation evaluation system independently developed by CCB Shanghai Branch. It targets the characteristics of the Shanghai technology enterprise customer base and uses big data, cloud computing, AI and other technologies to help account managers understand customers, identify customers and screen customers to support approvers to review customers, identify risks and strengthen risk control, and strive to “understand the technology industry, understand technology, Understand scientific and technological talents, understand scientific and technological achievements, and strengthen intelligent risk control”.

“Expanding direct financing, developing venture capital, and expanding patient capital are already national policy guidelines. The integrated operation of commercial investment banks, direct financing, and the two-wheel drive of indirect financing are the only way for commercial banks to develop technology finance. At the same time, it is an honorable historical mission and an excellent development opportunity for large commercial banks, as capital settlement hubs for science and innovation, and as a necessary high-frequency financial consumer supplier for organizations and individuals.” Zhou Jie said, “In the future, the commercial banking industry should continue to function as a comprehensive hub, strengthen linkages with various financial partners such as investment institutions, brokerage investment banks, insurance companies, etc., and make joint efforts in equity, loan and debt insurance, so as to provide comprehensive, diversified, and relay integrated financial services for scientific and technological innovation, and help the high-quality development of China's new productivity and Chinese-style modernization.”