April 25, 2012, Beijing - ICBC concluded strategic partnership agreement with 20 large merchandize marts (clothing, home textile, steel, agri-produce, car accessories, plastics) including Zhejiang Yiwu China Small Commodity City. Nearly a thousand management parties of merchandize marts and merchants joined the signing ceremony and seminars at local ICBC through webcast. According to the agreement, ICBC will assign a team of customer managers and set up "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" to provide a full range of financial services to the large merchandize marts and the merchants in the marts, on top of many exclusive financial products (settlement offer, convenient credit facility) to support the growth of the merchandize marts and merchants. According to statistics, more than 100,000 individual industrial and commercial households, micro and small enterprises (MSEs) running their business in the merchandize marts nationwide will be directly benefited from this strategic partnership.

At the signing ceremony, merchants from different merchandize marts speaking on behalf appreciated the support to merchandize marts and small-and-medium business owners from a large bank such as ICBC, as they are more confident to run their business in the market. An executive with ICBC said, working with large merchandize marts to serve all the small and mid corporate segment enables better and more efficient delivery of services to individual industrial and commercial households and MSEs, leveraging the strong financial position, technological, service channels and risk management of a large bank.

Many kinds of large merchandise marts (clothing, leather, hardware, building materials, aquatic products, flowers) have been gathering steam in all corners of China on the back of rising living standard of urban and rural folks, division of labor in production and logistics, They are the important forces in driving the transformation and upgrade of consumer spending and coordinated economic development in different regions. Current statistics shows that, China has around 5,000 merchandize marts with over RMB 100 million in business turnover, more than 3 million stalls renting out and over RMB 7 trillion in closing volume, accounting for about 50% of total retail consumption. During the last few years, ICBC rolls out innovative financial products to keep up with the special conditions of merchandize marts packed with individual industrial and commercial households and MSEs. ICBC products have provided great support to the development of merchandize marts and merchants. Given the different characteristics of the merchants running business in special markets, credit enhancement through third party, third-party guarantee, joint-guarantee between companies, combined guarantee are various innovative measures of ICBC to launch loan products tailored to specific needs of the customers and address the funding gap of the merchants. To the borrowers, this translates to greater saving in cost of borrowing, stronger business presence and faster development in later steps. According to statistics, since 2009, ICBC has disbursed RMB 470 billion in personal business loans to 540,000 owners of small-and-medium enterprises and private business owners. This included the loans released by ICBC Guangdong Branch to the special markets in Guangdong: "Zhongshan Huangpu Cured Meat Loan", Jiangmen Zhishan copper industry cluster loan", "Jieyang stainless steel cluster loan". The loans were warmly received by the merchants.

Meanwhile, ICBC also set up a new service platform - ICBC Merchant Friend Club, to provide a full range of financial services to merchandize marts and merchants in the marts. In April, 2010, ICBC launched the first "ICBC Merchant Friend Club" in Zhejiang's Haining. The merchants are the members of the Club. Thereafter, ICBC rolled out a batch of products in succession for the members covering financing, settlement and wealth management. That included the exclusive special-offer services to the members in settlement/fee collection, loan facility and wealth management/investment return under "Merchant Friend Card", "Merchant Friend Link", "Merchant Friend Loan", "Merchant Friend Wealth", "Merchant Friend Joy". Over more than two years of operation, ICBC Merchant Friend Club is a comprehensive marketing and service platform providing good services to the owners of small-and-medium enterprises and individual industrial and commercial households. Since 2012, ICBC consolidates many products and services (corporate loan, SME loan, cash settlement and management, international banking, credit card, private banking, precious metal) under the service platform and offers all-inclusive and multi-functional financial products and services to all merchants. Further, ICBC Merchant Friend Club is also a platform for members to "share information, exchange business information, disseminate knowledge, realize value". Different events are held on an irregular basis and a host of non-financial services are provided for members to create more business opportunities and better prospects for business. As of today, ICBC has set up 3,000+ ICBC Merchant Friend Clubs in 37 provinces, cities, areas, serving nearly 4 million members and offering at-the-door services to merchants in about 5,000 merchandize marts, a service network across the country covering all the counties.

The 20 large merchandize marts signing strategic partnership agreement with ICBC are: Beijing Fengtai Xinfadi Agri-produce Wholesaling Market, Hebei Baoding Baigou Market, Liaoning Shenyang Wuai Market, Shanghai Yixian Steel Market, Jiangsu Nantong, Dieshiqiao International Home Textile City, Jiangsu China Changshu Clothing Market, Zhejiang Yiwu China Small Commodity City, Zhejiang Shaoxing China Light Textile City, Anhui Hefei Merchant Steel Market, Shandong Linyi Small Commodity City, Henan Shangqiu Agri-produce Wholesaling Market, Hubei Wuhan Hanzhengjie Branded Clothing Wholesaling Market, Hunan Changsha Steel Market, Guangdong Dongguan Plastics City, Guangzhou Zhuhai Zhongda Cloth Market, Chengdu International Commerce and Trade City, Chongqing Cold Storage Market ('0000 Tons), Dalian Xingye Furnishing Material Market, Qingdao Jimo Clothing Wholesaling Market, Ningbo Yuyao China Plastic City.

The strategic partnership with 20 large merchandize marts demonstrates the conclusion and affirmation of ICBC to provide services and establish cooperation with the merchandize marts, also a beginning for ICBC to serve the merchandize marts in an all-inclusive manner, said an executive with the Bank. The partnership showcases the services to merchandize marts and merchants in the marts through the ICBC Merchant Friend Club. Large banks entering merchandize marts is a win-win situation for three parties - growth of real economy, upgrade to merchandize marts and transformation in bank. I. Strengthen financial support to micro/small enterprises, private businesses engaged in commerce, trade and logistics, expand domestic consumption, drive consumer growth. II. Provide a full range of financial services to the management parties and investors of merchandize marts, help them expand business scale and access investment banking and financing services. Not only merchandize marts can improve their management, services and build up brand images, but also a force to drive the growth of merchandize marts and SMEs in China. III. Promote sustainable growth of large banks, helping large banks to set up new service platforms, expand service channels and build solid customer base to pave the way for the transformation in commercial banking business.

The ICBC executive said, in the future, ICBC will fully make use of the strategic partnership to improve the services to merchandize marts and merchants, create a better financial service environment for all the merchants and play a significant role to the growth of merchandize marts, individual industrial and commercial households and MSEs in China.