“160,000 Techfin customers,” “1.89 trillion RMB in green financing,” “Planting flow model,” “Pension calculator,” “Enterprise-level digital intelligent anti-fraud platform”... A spectacular 3D visual feast is being presented at CIB’s exhibition hall at the 7th Digital China Summit. This vivid display showcases CIB’s integration into the construction of Digital China, exemplifying new practices and visions in enhancing financial “Five Major Areas” and supporting the development of new quality productive force.
From May 23 to 28, the 7th Digital China Summit and Achievements Expo took place at the Fuzhou Strait International Conference and Exhibition Center. This year’s summit, themed “unlocking the value of data elements and developing new quality productive forces,” showcased the latest achievements in building a digital China and envisioned a digital future. As the only nationwide joint-stock commercial bank headquartered in Fuzhou, CIB participated in the expo for the seventh consecutive year. Digital CIB has steadily progressed from the planning and construction phases to the harvest phase.
In the Techfin exhibit area, impressive figures displayed in the video highlight CIB’s “acceleration” in supporting technological innovation and cultivating new quality productive force: a market coverage rate of 65% for national technology innovation demonstration enterprises, financing balances exceeding 240 billion RMB for various levels of “Specialized and Sophisticated” enterprises, and services for over 13,800 listed and pre-listed technology companies.
Supporting technological innovation requires fully leveraging the “multiplier effect” of data elements. CIB regards data as the “fourth balance sheet” of enterprises and has innovatively introduced the “Technology Flow” credit evaluation system. This system evaluates enterprises based on data assets, enabling precise quantification of technology enterprises’ talent, intellectual property, and innovation strength. By converting technological “soft power” into financing “hard currency,” CIB has helped nearly 6,000 small and medium-sized tech enterprises grow into industry leaders.
In the Green Banking exhibit area, visitors can experience the “Carbon Credit Account” and receive carbon credit postcards, bringing a green, low-carbon lifestyle within reach. In 2023, CIB launched the first comprehensive dual-carbon management service platform in the domestic banking industry, leveraging big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to empower enterprises’ green development and extend green finance to individual customers. Currently, 1,877 customers have used the corporate carbon account module, and 350,000 customers have opened personal carbon accounts on the platform.
As a pioneer in Green Banking, CIB introduced the first energy efficiency financing product in China in 2006. For eighteen years, CIB has used Green Banking to collectively paint a new picture of Beautiful China. By the end of 2023, CIB’s green financing scale reached 1.89 trillion RMB, and it received an MSCI ESG rating of AA, being the only domestic bank to achieve the highest rating for five consecutive years. The green projects supported by these loans can annually reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 23.99 million tons and save 10.74 million tons of water.
In the Inclusive Finance exhibit area, the “Planting Flow” model stands out, showcasing CIB’s satellite remote sensing application platform. Leveraging satellite remote sensing technology and integrating new satellite data, this model can calculate the planting area of tea gardens, estimate historical yields, monitor growth risks, and identify tea pests and diseases. This precise profiling of crop planting effectively addresses challenges in agricultural credit and green credit businesses, such as difficulty in market expansion, loan approval, and post-loan management, enabling the bank to “confidently issue loans” and “encouraging customers to borrow”.
Urban-rural integration has become a new trend, thanks to the rapid development and deep application of new-generation digital technologies. CIB is accelerating its digital transformation, focusing on “online product offerings” and “digitalized scenarios” to explore new models of digital inclusive finance. This approach effectively addresses issues such as insufficient financial service supply, supply-demand mismatch, and information asymmetry, improving the accessibility and coverage of inclusive financial services. Currently, CIB’s balance of inclusive loans has exceeded 500 billion RMB, with a compound annual growth rate of 37.82% over the past three years, benefiting 230,000 SMEs.
“Have you ever imagined meeting your future self?” In the Pension Finance exhibit area, an AI algorithm-based “black technology” can show what you might look like in 30 years and allows visitors to write a time-traveling letter to their future selves. “Here, the CIB Pension Calculator can tailor a retirement plan for everyone,” explained a CIB staff member at the exhibit.
Since launching the comprehensive pension finance service plan “Elderly Bliss Life” in 2012, CIB has spent over a decade developing a comprehensive pension finance service system. This system includes pension finance, elderly service finance, and elderly industry finance, creating the “Elderly Bliss Life” ecosystem. To date, CIB serves over 24 million elderly customers.
In the Digital Finance exhibit area, several technological innovations, such as the enterprise-level digital intelligent anti-fraud platform and the CIB Big Model Intelligent Cloud Core, highlight CIB’s transformation. The bank’s philosophy has evolved from “going to any lengths for technology” to recognizing that “digital transformation is a battle for survival,” showcasing the shift in its ideology and practical implementation.
CIB’s digital transformation has progressed steadily from laying the foundation and building the framework to comprehensive advancement and significant progress. The bank has gradually and stably transitioned from the construction phase to the harvest phase, initially establishing a “Digital CIB” system that includes “1 (Mobile Banking) + 5 (CIB Inclusive Finance, CIB Butler, CIB Life, Money Manager, CIB Platform for Integrated Banking) + N (various scenario ecosystems).” This system continuously integrates into various ecological scenarios, deepening the integration of Digital CIB with the real economy.
In the Digital Finance exhibit area, a series of engaging E-CNY activities attracted many visitors. Activities such as E-CNY linked with carbon credits, collaborative drawing, 1 RMB blind box purchases, and 1 cent drink purchases were popular among the audience. Visitors could earn carbon credits and E-CNY peripherals by opening a verified CIB Wallet or completing E-CNY transactions via the CIB Mobile Banking APP, effectively turning “green into gold.” As a designated operator of E-CNY, CIB has continuously upgraded its E-CNY product system and expanded its application scenarios. Currently, nearly 7.3 million E-CNY wallets have been opened, with transaction amounts exceeding 300 billion RMB.
From “Digital Fujian” to “Digital China,” CIB has consistently adhered to the technology-driven strategy proposed by President Xi Jinping during his tenure in Fujian. Riding the momentum of the Digital China Summit, CIB has accelerated its digital transformation, focused on leveraging the value of data elements, and promoted the integration of the digital economy with the real economy. This effort aims to cultivate new quality productive force and contribute to the advancement of Chinese-style modernization.