On May 22, 2026, the Free Trade Account (FT Account) system of CBHB Bank's Tianjin Branch passed acceptance and was officially launched, making the bank the first local corporate bank in Tianjin to complete the rollout of an FT Account system. Previously, in 2025, CBHB Bank was approved as a direct participant in the Cross-border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), becoming the first financial institution in Tianjin to access the system as a corporate bank. Relying on its development framework of "head office and domestic branches as the main body, with Hong Kong Branch and Free Trade Zone Branch as two wings," the bank's international settlement volume exceeded one hundred billion USD in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 48%. In the first quarter of 2026, its international business volume reached $35.4 billion USD, up 42% year-on-year. The coverage of the bank's corporate cross-border clients both domestically and internationally continues to expand, with its structure continuously optimized, positioning it as a key financial vehicle for serving Chinese enterprises' global expansion and connecting the domestic and international economic cycles.
Dual Breakthrough in Infrastructure: CIPS Direct Participation and FT Account Launch
The successive attainment of CIPS direct participant qualification and the launch of the FT Account system have provided solid support for enhancing CBHB Bank's cross-border financial service capabilities. Cross-border clearing efficiency has improved significantly, and the facilitation policies of FT Accounts directly reach the business front lines, making corporate cross-border fund transfers and currency exchange more efficient. Building on this, CBHB Bank is continuously improving its integrated account service system comprising onshore accounts, NRA accounts, FT Accounts, and its Hong Kong Branch, promoting complementary advantages and coordinated efforts among its domestic branches, Free Trade Zone Branch, and Hong Kong Branch. Domestic branches are rooted in the onshore market, providing comprehensive services such as cross-border settlement, trade finance, and exchange rate hedging for real economy enterprises. The Free Trade Zone Branch leverages FT Account facilitation policies to focus on specialized services for scenarios like cross-border investment and financing, shipping finance, and new foreign trade models. The Hong Kong Branch serves as an overseas integrated financial service platform, handling functions such as cross-border business coordination, international market connectivity, and cross-border asset allocation. This tripartite linkage achieves policy interoperability and product interconnectivity, offering enterprises full-process, one-stop cross-border financial services.
Full-Cycle Industry Chain Finance: Embedded in Every Stage of Corporate Global Expansion
Taking industry chain finance as the core direction of its strategic transformation, CBHB Bank has formed an industrial financial service model of "chain-leader guidance, deep cultivation of midstream firms, and coverage of upstream and downstream partners" around key industries such as new energy vehicles, integrated circuits, and high-end equipment. Adhering to the principles of industry focus, scenario-based approaches, domestic-foreign integration, and treasury empowerment, the bank precisely targets customer segments, formulates solutions, and delivers services along the supply chain, deeply embedding cross-border finance into the entire process of industrial globalization. In the realm of physical trade, CBHB Bank focuses on the overseas expansion needs of new energy vehicle manufacturers. By utilizing the Non-Resident Account system and a combination of trade finance tools, it effectively shortens the accounts receivable period for overseas sales, helping leading companies accelerate their global market expansion. At the capital market services level, the bank actively engages with technology innovation companies listed overseas. Taking a Hong Kong-listed AI big data company as an example, CBHB Bank guided it to transfer funds raised from its Hong Kong IPO into an FTN account. Leveraging the characteristics of greater exchange rate volatility and higher option premiums in the offshore market, the bank used a combination of foreign currency deposits and options products to enhance the company's deposit returns, achieving safe pooling and value preservation/appreciation of the raised capital. In the field of cross-border investment and financing, the bank promptly seized the policy window of an upward adjustment in the macro-prudential adjustment parameter for cross-border financing, helping enterprises introduce low-cost overseas funds to replace high-cost domestic debt, effectively reducing their comprehensive financing costs. Closely aligning with the gradient of corporate globalization, CBHB Bank provides full-cycle cross-border financial support focusing on trade expansion, production capacity expansion, capital expansion, and the expansion of services and standards overseas, ensuring finance accompanies production and services extend along the chain.
Establishing Benchmarks with Specialized Services: Shipping Finance and Bank-Insurance Synergy
Leveraging its locational advantage of being headquartered in Tianjin, CBHB Bank deeply serves the integrated development of the port, industry, and city. It has built a specialized shipping financial service system around characteristic industries such as shipping logistics, shipbuilding, and cross-border leasing. With professional support from China's export credit insurance agency, and relying on the risk coverage provided by export credit insurance, the bank successfully facilitated cross-border leasing financing for dual-fuel container ships, forming a full-chain service model of "Made in Tianjin, Leased in Tianjin, Insured in Tianjin, Financed in Tianjin," supporting the overseas expansion of high-end shipping equipment. Concurrently advancing projects include financing for the Côte d'Ivoire dry port project, power plant projects in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, and cross-border RMB offshore loans for photovoltaic enterprises. The bank provides integrated "insurance + financing + settlement" services to safeguard internationally engaged enterprises. CBHB Bank continues to deepen its "CBHB Credit Insurance Ease" service system, improving its product spectrum covering short-term credit insurance, medium- and long-term credit insurance, overseas investment insurance, and leasing insurance. This enhances its risk mitigation capabilities, providing solid support for scenarios such as new export models, overseas investment, and exports of large complete sets of equipment.
Looking ahead, CBHB Bank stated that it will take the launch of the FT Account system at its Tianjin Branch as a new starting point. It will strictly implement macro-prudential management requirements, continue to deeply cultivate industry chains, focus on key sectors, and continuously improve its integrated cross-border financial service system that coordinates domestic and international operations, as well as its Free Trade Zone and Hong Kong branches. The bank aims to comprehensively enhance its comprehensive service capabilities in cross-border settlement, cross-border financing, and risk management, deeply integrate into the national strategy of high-level opening-up, and provide sustained momentum for the high-quality development of the internationally engaged real economy.
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