October 23, during the Second YRD (Yangtze River Delta) Joint Meeting on Bills held in Nanjing, 62 company members coming from Shanghai, Zhejiang and Jiangsu unanimously adopted the "YRD Bill Discount Price Index Scheme" and clear the way for the "YRD Discount Price Index", the first authoritative price index for a regional bill market in the country. Meanwhile, all the members presented at this year's Joint Meeting signed the Convention on the Acceptance of Bills to maintain the settlement disciplines in the area. Industry insiders indicated that the promulgation of the first authoritative price index and the enforcement of self-discipline rules in the acceptance of bills in a regional bill market carry signification implications. It helps to speed up the formation of a universal bill market in Yangtze River Delta and thus facilitates the steady development of a nationwide bill market.

In China, "Yangtze River Delta" is the most developed area for bill market. By the end of September 30, bill financing in the Delta accounts for 21.6% of the total in the country. With regard to regional bill discount market "YRD Bill Discount Price Index" reflects the level of average prices and the overall trend of changes within a certain period, scientific, strong representation and highly credible. In principle, the index is compiled referencing the process used in determining Shanghai Interbank Offered Rate(Shibor) , Enterprises responsible for the sample data report the weighted average interest rate of all discounted bills bought in the most recent two weeks to the Enterprise who assumes the role of Secretary-General to make the bill price index visible to the public and submit to the necessary oversight from the local People's Bank and regulatory bodies. The launch of the "YRD Bill Discount Price Index" presses forward the regional bill market in several aspects. It encourages the discovery of real market price, creates a "weather vane" to reflect the dynamic changes of the market price, guides the investors to be more flexible in the bill financing strategy and asset allocation plan and drives the price trend of the nationwide bill market. Besides, the new price index is also helping the local regulatory departments to understand the fluctuations of transaction prices anytime. This will enable them to strengthen the monitoring and management of the market and formulate the necessary regulatory policies and management measures to promote the sustainable and stable development of the bill market further.

Meanwhile, all the contract members to the Convention on the Acceptance of Bills vow to strictly abide by the Bill Law and Measures for Payment and Settlement during the issuance of bills and will not whatsoever delay or dishonor payment. Acceptance banks with a record of 3 (inclusive) or more offence against the settlement disciplines will have their names circulated among the contract members. If they remain flouting the rules, they will be classified into the list of "Forbidden to buy" once half of the contract members adopt such resolution. Acceptance banks with serious offence will be closely monitored by the local People's Bank for their regulatory failures. Industry insiders believe that the Convention can be applied to all the financial institutions in solving their long-time problem of collecting overdue bills and reaffirming their reputation in payment fulfillment and is viewed as a measure to move forward a standardized bill market nationwide.  

The YRD (Yangtze River Delta) Joint Meeting on Bills was officially inaugurated in Shanghai in November, 2008, under the advocacy of ICBC Bill Department and vociferous support from the Regulatory Department. ICBC Bill Department was elected as the Secretary-General during the First Joint Meeting.   

According to the spokesperson from ICBC Bill Department, the Department is the first such institution dedicated to bills of exchange in the country since inception. It has a mission to strengthen the cooperation of bill business between all financial institutions in the region with an exclusive focus on the research in ways to improve bill services. As a pioneer in this field, ICBC Bill Department has built up its own standard operation, risk culture and actively involved in the set-up of market's underlying factors. Looking ahead, under the support of the People's Bank of China, Shanghai Head Office and Shanghai Branch of China Banking Regulatory Commission, ICBC Bill Department will continue to take measures to turn Shanghai's goal of international financial center into reality. These include close cooperation amongst financial institutions, communication of market news, establishment of risk aversion, innovation in bill services, maintenance of market order, and sharpening of the competitive edge of YRD bill market.