A Historic Mission Below the Lion Rock ICBC International Has Played a Key Role in Cementing Economic Ties Between the Mainland and Hong Kong
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CHINA DAILY HONG KONG EDITION Friday, October 12, 2018 HK | BUSINESS 7 A historic mission below the lion rock ICBC International has played a key role in cementing economic ties between the mainland and Hong Kong. Executive Cong Lin tells Sun Feier the group has gone through four major waves Window compa- of change, mirroring the impact nies, SOE listings, of the nation’s landmark reform banking sector and opening-up on the SAR. listings and HKEX reform have been city marked the second turn- the four major ing point, says Cong. In 1993, Tsingtao Beer — maker of one waves of change of the mainland’s most sought- in Hong Kong’s after beers — completed its ini- o place is more tial public o ering in the Hong capital market.” apparent than Kong stock market, heralding a Cong Lin, chairman of Indus- Hong Kong — a city new era for Chinese companies, trial and Commercial Bank of of integration and especially State-owned enter- China International embraceN at the nexus of the prises seeking to go public out- capital market and the Chinese side the mainland. mainland’s economic reform. When it became clear that Riding on China’s further International in conjunction sales platform Guazi.com and banks still hold overpowering harder, based on global experi- It started some 40 years a Hong Kong fl otation would opening-up, Cong’s company, with their collaboration in a JD Logistics. control of derivatives which ence,” he says. ago as Hong Kong fi rst intro- mean a pool of benefits in formerly known as Industrial special fund covering corporate Currently, ICBC International had somewhat triggered the They are quite di erent for duced “middlemen” linking terms of SOEs’ capital struc- and Commercial International finance, asset management, manages up to HK$200 billion 2008 fi nancial crisis, as well as commercial and investment the mainland with the rest of ture, company reformation and Ltd, was renamed ICBC Inter- capital markets and wealth worth of assets, Cong reveals. product pricing of commodi- banks in terms of corporate world in its historic mission. enterprise governance, every- national in 2008 in a bid to management last year. Bearing in mind that new ties, gold, foreign exchange and culture and risk preference. But, the city’s four-decade-long one came. cater for the parent company’s Cong called it “killing three economy startups are always futures. This worries Cong. “We’re situated in our ‘Middle fi nancial history isn’t just about Today, the market capitaliza- strategic transformation. Cur- birds with one stone”, given his below the entry requirements However, he refuses to copy Way’, and fi guring out a way for money, exchange or distribut- tion of mainland-related listed rently, it provides not only tradi- prescient observation in a mix- for most commercial loans, the and paste. “We need to pave a Chinese commercial bank to ing resources. It’s about human companies accounts for 37.42 tional investment banking ser- ture of commercial banking, company has decided to partici- our unique way partly because develop its investment banking action and collaboration. percent of the entire market vices, such as sponsorship and investment banking business pate in their clients’ every life- we’re under the structure of business step by step is a his- Cong Lin, chairman of Indus- value. As of late August this underwriting, bonds under- and corporate revenue. cycle — from direct investment ICBC, a Chinese commercial toric mission in our generation,” trial and Commercial Bank year, it dwarfed the merely writing, merger and acquisi- Pressure on whether invest- to subsequent mergers and bank.” Cong says. of China International — the 4.78-percent capitalization reg- tions, restructuring advisory, ment banks should stick to acquisitions, as well as IPOs. Since its launch a decade ago, Long seen as a key to accom- investment banking unit of the istered 25 years ago, accord- futures or derivatives, and debt their traditional asset-light But, the question of how Chi- ICBC International has claimed plishing those historic mis- world’s biggest bank by market ing to data from Hong Kong fi nancing, but also innovative strategy to control risks mount- nese-funded banks draw their its crown in the Hong Kong sions, ICBC International’s cor- value — recalls every turning Exchange and Clearing — the services like direct investment ed in the Hong Kong market blueprint in the investment capital market, ranking third porate culture — as a “warm point in the past 40 years dur- city’s bourse operator. and asset management. but, to Cong, no innovation banking section still puzzles in terms of mainland and Hong investment bank” — enables ing which Hong Kong unhesi- China Construction Bank’s would mean near death, espe- Cong, his team and peer com- Kong investment banking fees the Hong Kong-based fi nancial tantly inched forward as Asia’s listing in Hong Kong in 2005, O the beaten track cially with the market being so panies. so far this year, including equi- institution to stand out in the fi nancial hub. according to Cong, spurred As an investment bank off volatile so far this year, bu eted “We’re still in the early stage ty, debt, mergers and acquisi- city’s central business district, “Actually, Hong Kong’s status the third wave, dubbed the the beaten track, ICBC Interna- by geopolitical uncertainties. of the investment banking tions and loans, and surpassing with its huge cluster of fi nancial as a world-class capital market “Chinese banking sector list- tional has been one of the pio- As a result, after Cong took sector,” says Cong. Compared major foreign peers. enterprises crammed into a for- began to exude in the late 70s ings” — from just four major neers in innovative services. It charge, he introduced two with the world’s “bulge brack- As a global investment est of skyscrapers. of the last century,” Cong tells Chinese commercial banks’ was one of the early backers of more focus areas — direct et” investment banks, such as bank, it has attracted overseas “Everyone walks quickly, and China Daily. “China’s reform attempts since 2005, including bike sharing provider Mobike, investment and asset manage- Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan clients. It was involved in Bra- every restaurant is full of people and opening-up had boosted Bank of China, Industrial and then brought its great amount ment. To meet the changes in Chase or Morgan Stanley, Chi- zilian State-owned Petroleo talking business,” Cong says. the city to gain its international Commercial Bank of China and of cash, generated by every the mainland’s new economy nese-backed peers still lag far Brasileiro’s $70-billion share sale Therefore, the company has position, while before that its Agricultural Bank of China, to end-user’s pre-using deposit, landscape, ICBC International, behind in institutional struc- — the world’s largest in 2010 — organized various lectures on economy was mostly driven by Postal Savings Bank of China’s into the management of ICBC as the sole overseas investment ture, business model and mar- as a joint bookrunner, and in the stage below the lion rock, local companies.” fl otation in 2016. International’s parent company platform of ICBC, tapped into a ket logic, given foreign invest- insurer AIA Group’s $20.5-bil- covering every aspect of the He thought of a “window “We played a part in PSBC’s ICBC. variety of sectors like consump- ment banks already have the lion IPO — Hong Kong’s biggest community, such as introduc- company” in making the fi rst IPO here as well, and the suc- China Renaissance — a bou- tion, technology and health- experience for more than a share sale the same year — as ing Beijing’s National Palace foray. In June 1979, the first cess of Chinese banks’ listings tique investment bank focusing care, and betted on enterprises century, he explains. an underwriter. It also marked Museum or the trade relation- central enterprise-owned win- enriched the investing oppor- on the new economy — rang that have been in the public the fi rst time a Chinese invest- ship between China and the dow company — China Over- tunities for the general public,” the fl oor bell at the Hong Kong eye, such as Tencent-backed Claiming the crown ment bank had participated in United States, with “less fi gures seas Holdings — was launched. says Cong. stock exchange and got its fi ntech fi rm WeShare, artifi cial The situation has made Chi- a global o ering. in mind”. That was promptly extended to Since early this year, HKEX’s offering in September. That intelligence startup YITU Tech- nese investment banks struggle The revenue coming from As this year marks the 10th local governments’ pursuit of new listing policies, which was jointly sponsored by ICBC nology, Chinese online used car to adapt. Foreign investment foreign clients currently anniversary of ICBC Interna- greater foreign and Hong Kong include opening up for dual- accounts for about 20 percent tional’s rebranding, big bill- capital to the mainland, with share class fi rms and pre-profi t of ICBC International’s total boards featuring violin musi- Beijing Holdings, Guangdong biotech enterprises, have inject- income, according to Cong. cians, statuary craftsmen and Enterprises (Holdings) and ed new life into the city’s much- Taking the helm at a whol- calligraphers have gone up on Fujian Enterprise (Holdings) heralded fi nancial transforma- ly-owned subsidiary of retail the walls of Hong Kong Inter- poised to set foot in Hong Kong tion. This is the latest wave. bank ICBC, how commercial national Airport with the slo- in lockstep.