Bank of China Ltd is holding a trade and investment cooperation fair in Manchester, the United Kingdom, on Friday to promote exchanges between small and medium enterprises from both countries.

Billed as a matchmaker for cross-border SME cooperation, about 500 "one-on-one" meetings between 200 SMEs, from sectors such as food and beverages, medical equipment, high-end consumer products, high-end manufacturing and renewable energy are expected.

This is the first time that such a cross-border matchmaking event has been organized by the Bank of China in the UK and is proof of the Chinese lender's commitment to corporate social responsibility and support for SMEs.

Since last year, BOC has held more than 10 such events - in Milan, Italy, Dusseldorf in Germany, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, Paris in France, Rotterdam of the Netherlands, New York in the United States, Sichuan, Nanning, Hebei and other places. More than 7,500 business people from more than 5,000 domestic and foreign SMEs have participated in these events. About 6,000 "one-on-one" meetings have yielded more than 3,000 cooperation agreements in trade cooperation, joint ventures, technology transfer, equity investment and other areas.

BOC launched the "SME cross-border investment services" campaign to help SMEs to find partners around the world. Matchmaking services aim to solve their difficulties as they are often hindered by an alien business environment, language, policy and laws in foreign countries, and poor communication. Such services can help reduce the barriers for global expansion and cut costs.

Through this service, BOC not only plays the role of bridging and guidance, and provides information matching and business assistance. It also leverages its advantages by providing "full-cycle financial services" including commercial banking, investment banking, insurance, securities and leasing for SMEs in various phases. This includes the business opportunity phase, investment and construction period, the start-up period, and the scaling-up period.

With these services, BOC and foreign cooperation agencies have also established a customer information database, and carried out preliminary matching through mutual exchange of company information and also organized distance online matchmaking through e-mail, fax, telephone and video. Customers are then able to have one-on-one, face-to-face exchanges at BOC's fairs to reach a preliminary cooperation intention. Companies can also visit each other's sites and finalize cooperation deals.

To reduce the cross-border investment costs, BOC has provided support to SMEs through services such as consulting, finding overseas partners, Internet video communication and business promotion materials translation - all free of charge. It has also made three service commitments. The first is in business registration, tax arrangement, legal advice and other aspects. The second is the banking account, financial settlement, foreign currency exchange and other basic financial services, while the third deals with financing, cash management and cross-border yuan activities.

SMEs are the backbone of the economy, and the foundation of the economic health of a country lies in the vigor of its SMEs. BOC will continue to play to its own advantages and support SME development and promote the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries.

zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/21/2015 page12)