ICBC has positively supported offshore projects for the “One Belt and One Road” initiative in Bangladesh. Since 2014, it has led USD 1.3 billion financing for four electric power projects contrated by Chinese enterprises in the country. 

At a key transportation hub of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Bangladesh suffers a severe shortage of electric power, which causes a major bottleneck dragging its economic growth. All of the four projects in which ICBC served as the lead arranger are the electric power construction projects of Bangladesh Power Development Board. The contractors are all Chinese engineering constructors. Shahi Bazaar Power Station has an installed capacity of 300MW. Guangdong Power Engineering Corporation and Guangdong Electric Power Design Institute, both under China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd., entered into an EPC contract. ICBC and HSBC arranged a USD 259 million financing for this project as co-lead arrangers, with ICBC providing USD 141 million. This project was named the “Deal of the Year 2014” by Trade Finance, an internationally recognized economic and financial magazine. The other three projects amounted to about USD 1 billion in aggregate where ICBC designed structured financing plans, and arranged financing as a lead arranger, providing strong support for the construction by Chinese contractors. 

An ICBC official said in recent years ICBC has financed for 121 go-global projects relating to energy import, high-end equipment export, advantageous production capacity export and large-scale project contracting by leveraging its world-wide and diversified businesses. ICBC Head Office has established the “One Belt and One Road” Business Development Leading Group to implement the “One Belt and One Road” strategy. ICBC has so far developed an onshore and offshore operating network covering the countries and territories under the “One Belt and One Road” initiative. It owns more than 70 branches in 17 countries along the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, and its financial services have radiated toward almost all the regions planned under this initiative. As at the end of 2014, the Bank has lent USD10.9 billion for 73 foreign projects of the “One Belt and One Road” initiative.