China supply chains: Hubei takes lead in appointing bank executives to boost financial support for key industries

Eight industries are currently being prioritised, including automotive, aerospace and even tea production, with 18 more critical industries to be included later

‘Leading financial officers’ in Hubei – where the coronavirus was first discovered in late 2019 – are being assigned specific industrial chains to oversee

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A textile worker at a factory in Wuhan, Hubei province, which is spearheading a plan to provide additional support to various sectors, including the textile industry. Photo: Reuters

Published: 5:30pm, 4 Aug 2021Updated: 10:00pm, 4 Aug 2021

There’s a plan in motion, orchestrated by China’s central bank, to tighten up and improve supply chains across key industries in response to Beijing’s call to maintain economic stability ahead of a slowdown that may be inevitable in the coming months.

Executives at the Wuhan branch of the People’s Bank of China in the central province of Hubei – China’s eighth-largest provincial economy – recently kicked off the efforts to improve industrial chains plagued by the coronavirus pandemic and trade tensions with the United States.

In a statement on Tuesday, the branch said it had appointed executives from state-owned banks to tackle the initiative, dubbing them leading financial officers.

Eight industries are currently being prioritised, including automotive, aerospace, integrated circuits, crayfish farming and tea production. The list will be expanded later to include 18 other industries, including those specialising in textiles, big data, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing equipment.

Jin Peng, vice-president of China Construction Bank’s Hubei branch, has already been appointed to oversee aerospace and integrated circuits, while Zhou Gang, vice-president of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s Hubei branch, was put in charge of automotive and chemical industry chains, according to a separate circular jointly released last week by the province’s financial and industry regulators.