Recently, under the guidance and support of the China Water Exchange and the Sichuan Provincial Water Resources Department, IB's Chengdu branch has granted a loan of RMB 150 million to a Sichuan-based water company. This loan, secured by the water withdrawal rights, is specifically allocated for the company's water-saving process improvements and technology upgrades. This business transaction was registered in the movable property financing unified registration and publicity system of the Credit Reference Center, the People's Bank of China, enabling the pledge status to be queried in the national water rights trading system simultaneously. This marks the successful implementation of the nation's first water rights pledge loan in cooperation with the China Water Exchange.
In 2022, the Ministry of Water Resources, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance jointly issued the Guidance on Advancing the Reform of Water Rights. This Guidance mandates that by 2025, the initial distribution system for water rights should be fundamentally established, with clear definitions for regional water rights and water withdrawal rights for users. Additionally, it aims for further improvement of the water rights trading mechanism, a more active water rights market, comprehensive enhancement of trading supervision, and the preliminary establishment of a unified national water rights trading market.
"This transaction has effectively revitalized water resources and met the financial needs of enterprises for upgrading water-saving technologies. It has opened new avenues for the optimal use of water resources and the exploration of ecological product value transformation, marking a new breakthrough in financial services for water rights reform," said a representative from IB's Green Finance Department.
IB offers all kinds of water management solutions one needs. In recent years, leveraging its advantages in green finance, IB has been deeply involved in the protection and utilization of water resources. It actively supports the major conservation projects of the Yangtze River and the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. IB promotes and replicates various products, including pollution rights pledge financing, water-saving loans, water-saving linked financing, and water rights pledge loans, to support the efficient use of water resources, pollution prevention and control, and water-saving and consumption reduction technological upgrades. As of the end of 2023, IB has contributed RMB 419.5 billion in green finance to pollution reduction, contributing to the construction of a beautiful China with its efforts in the industry.