Tianjin takes lead in leasing industry, and its financial leased assets accounts for one third of the country’s total

As of March 2016, Tianjin has more than 1,500 leasing companies, with the leased assets accounting for more than one fourth of the country’s total, and the financial leased assets accounting for over one third of the country’s total. The city has opened leasing business of more than 900 aircrafts and 700 ships. Tianjin’s financial leasing sector has experienced a development trend that features concentration, innovation, and normalization and become a calling card of the city.

As an important achievement on financial innovation, Tianjin has become the largest financial leasing hub in China. With the official implementation of the “Guiding Opinions of the People’s Bank of China on Providing Financial Support for the Construction of the China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone”, the financial leasing companies in Tianjin were provided with new development opportunities.

According to the Overall Plan for Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Tianjin Pilot Free Trade Zone will take the lead to promote the leasing industry’s innovation on policies and systems and cultivate an environment that can gear to international conventions for the development of leasing industry. The “Guiding Opinions of the People’s Bank of China on Providing Financial Support for the Construction of the China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone” issued at the end of 2015 involves five clauses and 12 measures that support the development of leasing business. These measures attracted more state-owned, foreign-funded and financial leasing companies to launch businesses in Tianjin.

The financial leasing companies have experienced a qualitative growth from quantitative growth. By the end of May 2015, seven such companies had registered in Tianjin with registered capital totaling 29 billion CNY and total assets hitting 510 billion CNY. Their leasing assets reached 490 billion CNY, accounting for more than 35 percent of the country’s total.

The financial leasing industry sees rapid development in China. With the advantage of raising both capital and assets, financial leasing is becoming an important link to bond the financial sector and the entity economy and plays a key role in helping the small and medium-sized enterprises’ financing and China’s manufacturing to participate in international competition.

Tianjin’s financial leasing has formed three characteristics: the first one, internationalization. The financial leasing companies are actively participating in international competition, and the ICBC Leasing has been listed among the world’s top 10 aircraft leasing companies and Minsheng Financial Leasing Co Ltd has grown into the largest corporate jet leasing company in Asia; second, professionalization. The asset structure of financial leasing companies is changing gradually, and the appropriate leasing assets in the sectors of aviation, shipping, high-end equipment manufacturing, and electric power communication are increasing their proportions in the total leasing assets; third, differentiation. The financial leasing companies in Tianjin have formed their own advantages and brands in large aircraft, corporate jet, ship, equipment manufacturing, energy conservation & environmental protection, the “sannong” issues (farmers, villages and agriculture) and medical treatment.