The "2026 Lujiazui Forum" unveiled several significant policies, including those related to offshore finance, drawing widespread attention from various sectors. For foreign banks, what business development opportunities do these policy signals present? Concurrently, with the vigorous growth of new quality productive forces domestically, the acceleration of new economy companies' overseas expansion, and the continuous evolution of their demands, banks are facing new tests regarding their cross-border financial and comprehensive service capabilities. How can banks adapt to the differentiated financial needs of these companies and seize new opportunities presented by their global expansion?

In an interview, Hong Chengming, Vice President and Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking at DBS China, shared his perspectives. He believes that foreign banks, leveraging their inherent strengths, position themselves in the domestic market as specialized participants, connectors of infrastructure, and co-builders of the ecosystem for high-standard financial opening-up.

Discussing the financial needs of new economy enterprises, Hong Chengming noted that the timeline from their inception to rapid growth is significantly compressed. Consequently, banks must be able to "keep pace" in terms of their comprehension capabilities and response speed, with the key being to understand the underlying logic of the new economy.

Deepening Institutional Opening Creates Space for Foreign Banks' Corporate Business

The policy signals released by multiple authorities at the Lujiazui Forum mark a formal entry into the deep waters of institutional opening in the financial sector. This opens up long-term upward space for us to serve Chinese companies going global, attract high-quality foreign investment for long-term investment in China, and deepen cross-border RMB business.

The release of the 'Shanghai International Financial Center Offshore Financial Development Action Plan' and the supporting measures from the financial regulatory authority to encourage foreign bank participation in financial business pilots are significant. With DBS China headquartered in Shanghai, we will closely monitor the implementation of supporting rules and plan our business layout in advance. Furthermore, leveraging the DBS Group's service network covering Asia's three key growth axes and its strengths in cross-border finance, we will fully utilize various pilot policies to deeply integrate into the construction of the Shanghai International Financial Center.

The development of offshore finance and cross-border investment and financing is inseparable from the underlying support of RMB internationalization. DBS Bank will also fully leverage Singapore's advantages as an offshore RMB center and a key Asian foreign exchange trading hub to promote cross-border RMB business.

Looking ahead 3-5 years, the domestic low-interest-rate environment persists, significantly weakening the momentum of the traditional business model reliant on credit expansion and interest income. Corporate banking needs to transform by increasing non-interest income. Simultaneously, corporate financial demands have evolved from simple deposit, loan, and settlement services to comprehensive, full-cycle, cross-market, and integrated solutions. In the next 3-5 years, with industrial upgrading and the continuous release of cross-border two-way investment and financing demand, foreign banks will also encounter structural opportunities.

From a long-term perspective, foreign banks are specialized participants, connectors of infrastructure, and co-builders of the ecosystem for high-standard financial opening-up.

For instance, when companies expand overseas, foreign banks can facilitate close collaboration between their domestic and international teams to provide a full suite of services covering cash management, trade finance, foreign exchange hedging, cross-border M&A, and syndicated loans. This allows for precise connection to each stage of a company's global expansion, offering one-stop solutions for their global layout needs.

We are also actively building robust and flexible multi-market payment infrastructure and deeply participating in the high-standard two-way opening of China's financial markets. For example, through its lead underwriter qualification in China's interbank bond market, DBS China serves both domestic and international issuers and investors, helping them deeply grasp RMB investment and financing trends and participate in the world's second-largest bond market.

Diverging Needs and Accelerated Global Expansion Drive Bank Service Evolution

New economy enterprises share common traits: high R&D investment, rapid strategic iteration, and high-speed expansion. Traditional credit is less adaptable, necessitating integrated comprehensive services spanning financing, cross-border settlement, ESG transition, and regional risk control. Demands vary significantly across different development cycles and industry sectors.

For example, the new energy sector (renewable energy, new energy batteries, new energy vehicles) is asset-heavy with long construction cycles. In response to their needs for cross-border M&A and overseas capacity integration in regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, banks must provide project financing, acquisition loans, and green finance solutions, alongside supporting services like commodity and foreign exchange hedging and regional cash pool services.

Advanced manufacturing, characterized by rapid technological iteration and capital intensity, from a foreign bank's perspective, requires not only focusing on cross-border transaction and financing services but also assisting companies in connecting with overseas industrial ecosystems, unlocking business opportunities across the supply chain, and comprehensively empowering advanced manufacturing companies in their "capability export."

Digital economy companies, being asset-light with fast capital turnover, multi-scenario operations, and high-frequency multi-currency receipts and payments, place greater emphasis on digital treasury tools. Therefore, they require banks to continuously improve cross-border payment products with multi-system interconnectivity, offering one-stop cross-border collection and payment services to simplify cross-border fund flow processes.

The entire journey from inception to explosive growth for new economy enterprises is significantly compressed, which also requires banks to "keep pace" in their comprehension capabilities and response speed. The key lies in understanding the underlying logic of the new economy.

Serving such enterprises cannot be solely confined to historical financial statements. Instead, it involves aligning a company's data elements and multi-dimensional operational details with its long-term strategic development. Financial technology plays a crucial role in this process. For instance, we deeply integrate internal and external data, utilize generative AI to automatically generate client profiles and analytical reports, and employ intelligent tools to predict the financial needs of high-growth enterprises, customizing products and professional advice. This enables us to keenly capture the rapidly changing development trends of new economy enterprises and formulate strategic plans precisely.

As China's largest trading partner, ASEAN, with its significant geographical advantages and immense growth potential, is a crucial destination for Chinese companies expanding globally. In recent years, Chinese companies have continued to advance their presence in ASEAN, leveraging benefits from RCEP and cost advantages. We observe several distinct trends:

First, the independent establishment of resilient supply chains. Companies are independently positioning themselves in diverse markets like ASEAN to build more resilient supply chains and international manufacturing ecosystems with stronger risk resistance, thereby addressing risks arising from global trade fragmentation.

Second, opportunities in digital infrastructure. Corporate investment focus is gradually shifting towards digital infrastructure like green data centers, cloud services, and computing power clusters. This stems from the explosive growth of ASEAN's digital economy in recent years and a surge in local market demand for computing power and AI applications.

Third, opportunities in green energy transition. The collective overseas expansion of the entire green industry chain, primarily focused on wind and solar power, new energy batteries, and new energy vehicles, deeply aligns with the sustainable development transitions and energy diversification policies of ASEAN countries, while effectively meeting the low-carbon access requirements of global supply chains.

Fourth, industries like cross-border e-commerce, emerging tea beverages, cultural and creative beauty products, and smart home appliances are upgrading from "selling products" to "exporting brands and localized operations." This trend is underpinned by the continuous expansion of ASEAN's young population and middle class, along with immense digital consumption potential.

Additionally, regarding RMB internationalization, we have seen a significant increase in the proportion of RMB cross-border settlement, RMB investment and financing, and local currency swaps in cross-border trade and direct investment. This benefits from the scale effects and ecosystem closure formed by China's industrial upgrading and corporate global expansion, while technological innovation has also driven the continuous enhancement of RMB asset attractiveness.