In recent years, by fully leveraging its unique advantages in syndicated loans and  the powerful interbank distribution network, ICBC has successfully arranged syndicated loans for a large number of premium and major projects, and strongly supported the development of the real economy. Statistics show that ICBC arranged for 435 syndicated loan projects as the lead bank in 2014, with a total contract amount of USD 43.5 billion, ranking the first among lead banks of syndicated loans in the Asia-Pacific region.

According to the data available, total syndicated loans in the Asia-Pacific region(excluding Japan) throughout 2014 amounted to USD522.9 billion, involving 1,650 completed financing deals, and representing a 13% increase over the USD461.9 billion recorded in 2013. The Chinese market was the strongest driver behind the growth of syndicated loans in this region, with loans of USD 141.3 billion completed in total, which accounted for 27% of the Asia-Pacific market. The M&A project of China Minmetals Consortium’s acquiring the Las Bambas copper mine in Peru, in which ICBC acted as a joint lead arranger of the syndicated loan, was the biggest acquisition and financing project of 2014 in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding Japan).

In terms of domestic syndicated loans, the Bank led the arrangements for a series of major projects last year, including the Dongguan-Huizhou inter-city rail transit project, Guangzhou-Foshan-Zhaoqing Expressway project, and the shantytown renovation project in Nanjing; and provided financial support to a number of key projects relating to the national economy and public livelihood. In international syndicated loans, by closely following Chinese enterprises efforts to go global and leveraging its network of overseas institutions, ICBC has supported a slew of major projects in recent years, including the construction of power stations in Botswana, CNOOC’s acquisition of Nexen (a Canadian oil company), China Three Gorges Corp’s acquisition of EDP-Energias de Portugal, and China Minmetals’ acquisition of the Peruvian copper mine.