More than 1,800 financial consultants from Zhejiang Province rushed to the front line to ask about the financing problems of small and medium-sized enterprises.
What should small and medium-sized enterprises do if they need financial-related services when they go to court to find a lawyer and see a doctor? Zhejiang is a leading economic province in China, and it is also a big private economy province. By the end of 2022, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Zhejiang Province accounted for 99% of the total number of enterprises in the province. At present, a practice that has been carried out for more than four years is to solve this problem. It is called the financial advisory system. More than 1,800 financial advisers go deep into the front line every day to "consult the pulse" and solve problems for small and medium-sized enterprises.
"1+N" Financial Consultant’s All-round Consultation
Emerging industries can also be successfully financed.
On March 20th, in the conference room of a bank head office in Zhejiang, a representative of a private small and medium-sized enterprise was introducing the basic situation of the company to banks, brokers, insurance, venture capital, funds and legal institutions. This is the "1+N" comprehensive service formed by the financial advisory system. Specifically, it is through this ‘ 1’ , linking banks, brokers, insurance, venture capital, funds, private placements and other financial institutions to form ‘ N’ Seed synergy.
This is an institutional innovation in the structural reform of the financial supply side that Zhejiang Province has been implementing since 2018. After listening carefully to the present situation and development prospect of the enterprise, the financial advisers from different institutions at the scene, like doctors’ consultation, gave the methods of equity financing from their respective fields.
Different financial products will have different effects on a startup. Many financial institutions sit together for "consultation", and the cost and time make the enterprise clear at a glance. This kind of communication efficiency and comprehensive feasibility analysis is something that this startup company never dared to think about before.
By the end of November 2022, the number of small and medium-sized enterprises in Zhejiang accounted for 99% of the total number of enterprises in the province. In order to create a suitable development environment for private enterprises.
In 2018, under the guidance of Zhejiang Local Financial Supervision Bureau, financial institutions in Zhejiang, represented by Zheshang Bank, gathered strength and took the lead in launching the financial advisory system in the country, pushing 1,800 financial advisers to the front line to solve problems for small and medium-sized enterprises. These financial advisers come from more than 80 related units and institutions such as banks, insurance, securities, equity investment, guarantee, financial leasing, asset management, funds, futures, law firms, accounting firms and universities in Zhejiang Province.
Fiona Fang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Financial Services Committee of Zheshang Association: It may have some incurable diseases in the development process, or it may develop better in the future, but it may need some empowerment at this stage. For these enterprises, our financial consultants can play a greater role, and its significance may be here.
Lu Jianqiang, Director of the Financial Services Committee of Zheshang General Association, Secretary of the Party Committee of Zheshang Bank: Finance is an important resource guarantee, an important economic factor and economic resource. It cannot be an excessive pursuit of profit, but a pursuit of social responsibility. Financial consultant is a very good practical exploration of supply-side reform.
An enterprise that produces perovskite solar cells in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, produces building materials-based photovoltaic modules, which organically combine photovoltaic and buildings into a whole, in short, the wall can generate electricity. Nowadays, enterprises have built houses with perovskite solar cells in Denmark and other countries, and the company’s development has entered the fast lane.
But just a year ago, they wanted to build a 100 MW production line, but they were stumped by funds. Fortunately, the financial consultant entered the factory and sent the funds "timely rain".
Yan Buyi, co-founder of Quzhou Xianna New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.: At that time, Zheshang Bank tailored a talent loan for us. It was a pure credit loan and did not need our personal mortgage at all. It granted us a quota of 20 million yuan. It has played a key role in the production of this production line.
Recently, in the face of new orders, enterprises are still laying out new production lines. The production workshop of 1 watt perovskite solar cells has started construction, and the production workshop of 5 watt has also started planning.
Yan Buyi, co-founder of Quzhou Xianna New Energy Technology Co., Ltd.: At the level of 5 G watts, the cost of perovskite can be less than 50% of the current traditional photovoltaic.
Jian Xu, Deputy Director of Quzhou Supervision Branch of China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, China: Financial consultants integrate various resources, including banking, insurance and securities, to provide an overall comprehensive service to economic entities.
In Binjiang District, Hangzhou, a biopharmaceutical enterprise almost exhausted the 45 million yuan raised in advance in one year, and what makes the enterprise more headache is that the upfront expenses are invested in software research and development and talent recruitment, and it is difficult to get loans because of the lack of qualified collateral.
After learning about this situation, the financial consultant extended a helping hand to the enterprises in difficulty. The bank gave the enterprises 30 million yuan of investment and loan funds through the combination of credit loans and investment products, and the enterprises finally completed research and development and marketing with this fund.
Full coverage of 11 cities
Financial advisers give consideration to workers, peasants and businessmen.
In Zhejiang, financial consultants not only pay attention to emerging industries, but also project their services to 26 counties in Zhejiang to help a large number of characteristic industries such as Longquan celadon, Sanmen blue crab and Xianju Yangmei to go through the ups and downs cycle and iron out the risk of price fluctuations.
Longyou County is a big county where pigs are transferred out of the country and a strong animal husbandry county in the whole province. In the past, the price of pigs fluctuated greatly, which often caused huge losses to farmers. In the first half of 2022, the price of pigs was once low, and whether it can smoothly cross the pig cycle is the most worrying issue for all local farmers.
After investigation by financial consultants, it is found that the key points of this problem are: farmers don’t own land, although they have built pig houses, they can’t get property certificates, and they don’t have enough collateral to get loans, so it is difficult to cross the pig cycle. As a result, the financial consultant, in conjunction with a number of financial institutions, designed a new product of insurance+futures+financing for farmers. Accurately helping advantageous industries to promote common prosperity, Liu Xu got a mortgage-free loan of 2 million yuan, which successfully survived the period of low pig prices.
Liu Xu, head of Zhejiang Longyou Hongfeng Pig Breeding Co., Ltd.: Last year, I earned 3 million yuan in this farm.
Thanks to the mortgage-free loan, it has survived the trough, making this big pig farmer who has been dealing with agriculture all the year round feel the power of finance for the first time. In Longyou County, the bank has issued more than 86 million yuan of "pig-rich loans" to 60 pig breeding enterprises, with an average household income of more than 1 million yuan.
Mao Kejun, Financial Advisor of Party Committee Member of Zheshang Bank Quzhou Branch: In the past, when the pig cycle was encountered, some farmers would close down because of insufficient funds, but after our product came out, this problem should be solved at present.
In 2020, the financial advisory system was written into the local financial regulations of Zhejiang Province, which became a new path for the structural reform of the financial supply side. In the interview, the reporter also met financial consultants who came to investigate in different enterprises. In Zhejiang, more than 1,800 financial consultants, like free family doctors, constantly provide a variety of solutions to corporate problems. In fact, the 1+N service and the comparison of various schemes have invisibly brought competition in the financial industry, and diversified and diversified financial services have benefited enterprises.
Du Quan, Secretary General of the Financial Services Committee of Zheshang Association: Financial institutions should be allowed to provide better services through competition, so that this real economy can reduce costs, obtain better financing and obtain better efficiency.
In Huzhou, Zhejiang Province, an innovative R&D enterprise involving ultra-fine alloy wires and metal-based composite materials has an annual R&D investment of more than 100 million yuan. In order to solve the financial problem in the rapid growth of the enterprise, the financial consultant suggested that the enterprise join the cash pool business with bills, saving the interest cost of 6 million yuan for the enterprise every year. In addition, the financial consultant also suggested that the enterprise lease the existing equipment to solve the problem of insufficient liquidity.
A steel enterprise in Quzhou, although the price of coal rose last year, the price of steel was not ideal, and there was almost no profit in its main business, but the investment direction recommended by the financial adviser made the enterprise earn more than 500 million yuan.
An agricultural company, with more than 20,000 large growers and agricultural distributors in the past, has outstanding problems of credit sales and arrears. Faced with this pain point, the financial consultant designed an innovative model: the bank intervened in the transaction between the buyer and the seller, and the payer paid for the goods with the loan, so that the seller could withdraw the funds at the first time.
Wu Fangyong, financial director of Zhejiang Merchants Holding Group Huiduoli Agricultural Resources Co., Ltd.: 60 million yuan has been received, and 4% of the loan is annualized. If we credit for half a year, it will save 1.2 million yuan of interest. If it reaches 200 million to 300 million yuan, it will save several million yuan.
In an international trading company, the person in charge told the reporter that with the implementation of the financial advisory system, there are more and more innovations in financial business and the living environment of enterprises is getting better and better. For example, in the past, banks rarely provided large short-term loans, and enterprises could only use long-term loans to solve short-term problems, paying huge interest for nothing, and the cost of enterprises rose and their competitiveness declined. But now, in response to this problem, banks have launched short-term large-scale loan business.
After the introduction of short-term large loans, this foreign trade enterprise obtained a quota of 500 million yuan, saving more than 5 million yuan in interest every year, and the extra 5 million yuan in profits gave international trade enterprises greater initiative in the competition.
At present, the financial advisory system, which originated in Zhejiang, has achieved full coverage of 11 cities in the province, forming a good ecology of participation and joint construction by all parties; Nearly 1,800 financial consultants have built a three-level service team in provinces, cities and counties and set up 54 working groups (offices). Become a backbone of financial empowerment of the real economy.
Reporter: Li Jie Happy Editor: Sun Jing