In the first half of 2015, by leveraging its strength in syndicated loans and inter-bank distribution network, ICBC has taken the lead in raising syndicated loans for infrastructure construction, recyclable economy, development and utilization of clean energy, industrial integration, cross-border merger and acquisition, which provided effective support to the growth of the real economy, according to the report. Statistics show that the amount of the domestic and overseas syndicated loans where ICBC acted as the lead bank exceeded RMB 490 billion in the first half of the year. The Bank ranked first among financial institutions in the Asia Pacific both in the increase of syndicated loans and in the times serving as the lead bank or the bookrunner.

Having newly raised more than RMB 270 billion of domestic syndicated loans and taken the lead in distributing over RMB 170 billion, more than doubling compared to the same period of last year, the Bank had an outstanding syndicated loan of over RMB 700 billion in the first half of this year. The Bank served as the lead bank to provide financial support for major projects such as the Lianghekou Hydropower Station project of Yalong River Hydropower Development Company, standby syndication of SAIC-GM, and the new railway from Golmud to Korla in Xinjiang, among others.

In terms of international syndicated loan, ICBC has closely followed the strategy of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st-Century Maritime Silk Road and the pace of the enterprises going global, provided financial services through syndicated loans for enterprises in cross-border investment, mergers and acquisitions, etc. In 2015H, the Bank acted as the lead bank to raise more than USD 36 billion through overseas syndicated loans, which provided funds for major projects including the acquisition of Pirelli, the world's fifth largest tyre maker, by China National Chemical Corporation.

The syndicated loan is an internationally received way of financing. Syndication consists of several financial institutions, which adopt the same loan agreement based on the same loan conditions and provide the same borrower with loans or other credits. The lead bank organizes the syndication, formulates the financing plan and distributes the loans. This financing method can comprehensively reflect the overall situation of the customer's capital demand and the bank's fund supply. The borrower of the syndicated loans, with no need to negotiate with banks one by one, may reduce time and cost in financing.