14 | Thursday, June 10, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY BUSINESS Moody’s keeps stable view on banks in China Ratings firm says sustained recovery, lenders’ asset quality outweigh risks

By JIANG XUEQING performing loans in the first quar- [email protected] ter, said Liang Tao, vice-chairman of the China Banking and Insur- Moody’s Investors Service, a ance Regulatory Commission, at a New York-headquartered global news conference on June 1. credit ratings agency, said it holds By the end of the first quarter, a stable outlook on China’s bank- the outstanding balance of non- ing sector in spite of potential performing loans in the banking risks in the form of uncertainties sector was 3.6 trillion yuan. The over the green transformation’s sector’s NPL ratio was 1.89 per- technological implementation. cent, down 0.02 percentage point Nicholas Zhu, vice-president from the beginning of this year, and senior credit officer at Liang said. Moody’s, attributed the stable Although experts do not expect outlook to the solid asset quality systemic financial risks in China, of Chinese lenders and the econ- they said credit risk will stay omy’s sustained recovery from between large, systemically impor- the impacts of the COVID-19 tant banks and smaller regional pandemic. banks whose asset quality is closely A consumer checks out a Vivo X60 , a model co-developed by Vivo and Zeiss, at a store in Shanghai. provided to china daily Therefore, Moody’s, which also linked to regional economic per- provides research and risk analy- formance and the industry seg- ses, has upgraded its ratings out- ments they specialize in. look for several Chinese regional As the majority of small and commercial lenders from negative medium-sized banks are rooted in Zeiss, Vivo team up to exploit mobile imaging tech to stable. cities or counties, the regulator- backed consolidation of several By CHENG YU experience of a smartphone,” he project, a global initiative that will banks within a province will help [email protected] said. build a visual content ecosystem. $72.4 reduce concentration of risk at the The most impressive Zeiss’ focus on the mobile imag- Similarly, other Chinese smart- billion county-level, Zhu said. Zeiss Group, a German manu- ing technology is a follow-up to its phone makers are teaming up with nonperforming loans disposed “Looking ahead, China’s struc- facturer of optical electronics and thing for me is the long-term cooperation agreement professional camera and optical of by Chinese lenders in the tural adjustment, such as the tran- optical products like top-end eye- strong demand for with Vivo, which resulted in the suc- component makers. first quarter of this year sition toward a green economy, glass lenses, binoculars and cam- cessful development of the latter’s For instance, Technolo- may amplify risk transmission to era lenses, is looking to exploit Vivo products from latest premium smartphone, the gies Co has partnered with Leica its banking sector in the long run, the rising potential of mobile consumers, X60 whose quad-camera offers opti- Camera AG, a German manufactur- Among the lenders that as the trajectory of a green trans- imaging technology in the China cal lenses, sensors, image process- er of premium cameras and sport received the upgrade are Bank of formation’s technological imple- market. particularly the ing algorithms and diverse multi- optics products, for better camera Nanjing Co Ltd, Bank of Ningbo mentation still remains uncertain. Maximilian Foerst, president young generation. modal features. experience. Co Ltd, Bank of Suzhou Co Ltd and “A bank may face higher credit and managing director of Zeiss “The most impressive thing for , a smartphone maker in Shenzhen Rural Commercial risks in underwriting emerging China, the local subsidiary of the And Zeiss sees a me is the strong demand for Vivo China, is also betting big on strong Bank Corp Ltd, Zhu said. technologies because many green German parent, said the compa- super fit of both products from consumers, particu- camera capabilities to attract “We expect that China’s gross technologies are evolving with low ny’s deepened cooperation with larly the young generation. And more consumers, especially the domestic product growth will hit predictability of potential returns Chinese smartphone maker Vivo brands.” Zeiss sees a super fit of both brands,” young, through its cooperation 8.5 percent this year. Besides, and obsolescence risks. Banks will will strengthen its efforts to har- Maximilian Foerst, Foerst said. with Sony for the co-development credit risks associated with be compelled to adapt to rapid ness the power of the mobile imag- president and managing “Vivo is excited to give X60 of its smartphone with a high-end excess capacity businesses and shifts in the technological and reg- ing technology. director of Zeiss China users the best mobile photogra- lens. local government financing vehi- ulatory environment and in bor- In China, smartphone manufac- phy experience by leveraging the According to a report from Coun- cles for infrastructure construc- rower behavior,” he said. turers are stepping up cooperation quickened shift from cameras capabilities of Zeiss, a legend in terpoint, a market research provid- tion have been largely dealt with In the short term, banks are with professional camera and opti- with fixed or interchangeable len- the world of optics for 175 years,” er, growth of smartphone since the 2008 global financial likely to see a continued increase cal component makers to meet the ses to as preferred said Spark Ni, senior vice-presi- shipments in China turned positive crisis,” said Zhu on the sidelines in their impairment charges for growing appetite for high-quality equipment for capturing the dent of Vivo. in the first quarter, growing 36 per- of the CCXI 2021 Mid-Year Credit non-loan assets, such as bonds mobile cameras among consumers remarkable moments of life,” he “Smartphones have become an cent compared to last year’s COVID- Outlook Conference in Beijing on with high default risks. This is to worldwide. said. extension of the consumer’s lifestyle impacted first quarter to reach 90.7 Tuesday. comply with China’s new asset “We are committed to develop- “This development is accelerat- to record and capture the joy-in- million units. Mao Zhenhua, chief economist management rules, which aim at ing mobile imaging technologies ed by the breathtaking speed of spired moments of their lives, caus- Counterpoint Senior Analyst at China Chengxin International reining in risky shadow banking as we see great potential in the smartphone innovation and the ing mobile photography to become Yang Wang said that powered by a Credit Rating Co Ltd (CCXI), also practices in the financial system. extremely dynamic market,” said use of smartphones as all-day a critical part of user experience. We new generation of 5G chipsets, forecast that China’s economy Moody’s said that 15 major Chi- Foerst. companions by everyone. It have collaborated with Zeiss to phones come with better imaging, may grow 8.3 percent year-on- nese banks’ non-loan asset impair- He further said the mobile imag- relates also to built-in mobile bring unparalleled sharpness, clari- display, connectivity and charging year in 2021. ment charges doubled year-on- ing technology will be a “key dif- imaging systems in premium ty and image quality to Vivo smart- standards across the board. “Vivo’s During the economic recovery year in 2020. ferentiator” and an important smartphones, which offer more phones,” Ni said. strategic partnership with Zeiss from the COVID-19 pandemic, Chi- The trend is expected to contin- driver of the mobile market world- and more opportunities hitherto At the end of May, Vivo, together and the launch of its X60 series na has ramped up efforts to prevent ue as banks get ready for the final wide. reserved for only professional with partners including Zeiss and flagship in December helped and control credit risk. Its banking implementation of asset manage- “Photography and video shoot- cameras. It combines them with National Geographic, kicked off this enhance its brand image ahead of sector disposed of 463.2 billion ment rules by the end of this year, ing technologies have been seeing the intuitive and convenient user year’s “Vision+” mobile photography the first quarter.” yuan ($72.4 billion) worth of non- he said.

tion in China — as well as a wholly- owned subsidiary of Fitch Ratings Beijing steps up efforts of the United States and a wholly- owned entertainment unit of Japan’s Avex Group. in service trade, FTZ According to the Beijing Munici- pal Commerce Bureau, the city got BEIJING — Beijing municipal tal International Airport, which off to a flying start in utilizing for- authorities are accelerating develop- makes good use of the city’s new eign capital in the first quarter. A ment of the city’s “two zones”, intro- facility for one-day Customs clear- total of 379 new foreign-funded ducing a series of business-friendly ance in comprehensive bonded enterprises were established, repre- policies and continuing the city’s zones. senting a year-on-year growth of opening-up to the outside world. Some airline companies out- 36.3 percent. The contracted for- The “two zones” refer to the pilot source their engine maintenance. eign investment reached $9.63 bil- free trade zone and the national But maintenance enterprises on the lion, up 1.3 times year-on-year. The comprehensive demonstration zone Chinese mainland have to send actual utilization of foreign capital for expanding opening-up in the engines to Hong Kong and then was $4.94 billion, up 32.7 percent services sector. import them back again to claim tax year-on-year. In 2015, Beijing became the only exemptions or refunds — a process As an important platform for Bei- pilot city in the country to open the which is time-consuming and jing’s further opening-up, the 2020 services sector wider, and in 2020, involves risk during transport. China International Fair for Trade the central government offered sup- To tackle this issue, the tax depart- in Services continues to exert its port for the capital to become a ment and relevant local government influence. national comprehensive demon- put forward a Customs-clearance Yan Ligang, director of the Beijing stration zone of services sector policy for tax exemption, offsets or Municipal Commerce Bureau, said opening-up. The China (Beijing) refunds in comprehensive bonded that trade exhibitions, forums and Pilot Free Trade Zone was officially zones, and it has already been Visitors check out CT diagnosis equipment displayed at the China International Fair for Trade in relevant events are held every unveiled in September. implemented in the Tianzhu com- Services in Beijing in September. Zhang Chenlin / xinhua month via the fair’s online digital Against this background, many prehensive bonded zone in Beijing’s platform. policies have been formulated to Shunyi district. The implementation of signed encourage innovation and entrepre- Han Keping, deputy general man- In the financial sector, an RMB visas without bothering with trips to HIGH-LEVEL OPENING-UP projects has been going well, and the neurship, advocate financial open- ager of the finance department at international investment-and-loan different offices as in the past. Zhuang Rui, a professor at the organizing committee has continued ing-up and attract talented AMECO, said: “Since the policy was fund has been approved in Beijing. The policies for developing the University of International Business to receive additional projects, involv- individuals into the zone. Among launched, AMECO has saved about In the medical sector, the first eight “two zones” have helped improve and Economics, said: “Beijing plays ing $10 million, Yan said. the 251 policies for developing the 8 million yuan ($1.24 million) in pilot hospitals in Beijing providing work efficiency, Di said. quite an important role in the open- The 2021 China International Fair “two zones”, 140 policies had been engine maintenance freight rates, medical services for foreigners are Set up in July 2020, the Chao­- ing-up of the services sector, and its for Trade in Services will be held in implemented by the end of March, and the maintenance cycle has been advancing real-time settlements yang district-based one-stop plat- pilot free trade zone is a great plat- September in Beijing, local authori- including 12 pilot policies. shortened by over 400 days. Our with international insurance com- form was one of the landmark form for exploration and innova- ties said. corporation also plans to further panies. features of the “two zones” policies, tion. The experience gained could The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic CUSTOMS CLEARANCE explore tax refund services.” Di Xia, a staff member at Beijing’s integrating 120 service items of 19 be shared with the whole country.” has not hindered the pace of China’s Among local enterprises benefit- first one-stop platform for services functional departments, with The policies have drawn many further opening-up to the outside ing from such policies is Aircraft EFFICIENCY IMPROVED catering to international talent, said applications for foreigners’ work multinational companies to Beijing, world, municipal officials said. Maintenance and Engineering Cor- Favorable policies have taken the platform has enabled foreign and residence permits handled in including UBS Securities — the first poration (AMECO) at Beijing Capi- shape in many other areas. workers to apply for Chinese work one place. foreign-funded securities institu- Xinhua