Four departments jointly deploy! Banks, insurance, and capital markets "team up" to invest in technology

Source: Financial Times

Technology finance is a key element in driving the economy toward new development. To implement the deployment outlined in the 2026 “Government Work Report” regarding “accelerating high-level technological self-reliance and strength” and “supporting innovation and creation through technology finance,” on March 31, the People’s Bank of China, Ministry of Science and Technology, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, and China Securities Regulatory Commission jointly held a technology finance work exchange and promotion meeting. PBOC Governor Pan Gongsheng and Minister of Science and Technology Yin Hejun attended the meeting and delivered speeches, engaging in in-depth exchanges with representatives from financial institutions and tech-based enterprises on site.

The meeting noted that, one year after the issuance of “Several Policy Measures to Accelerate the Construction of a Technology Finance System and Strongly Support High-Level Technological Self-Reliance,” the initial progress has been remarkable. All departments have worked together to preliminarily establish a financial service system covering the entire lifecycle of tech enterprises, continuously optimizing the financing environment for tech companies, and improving satisfaction and sense of gain.

The meeting emphasized the importance of deeply understanding the significance of placing technological innovation at the core of national development and accelerating the construction of a technology finance system compatible with technological innovation. Moving forward, further innovation in financial products is needed to provide diversified, relay-style full-cycle financing support for tech enterprises, focusing on improving financial adaptability to technological innovation and enhancing the professional capacity of tech finance services.

Representatives from China Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, PICC Property & Casualty, Hangzhou Municipal Government, Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, the Merchant Association, Shanghai Stock Exchange, CAS Star, Galaxy General, and other government, banking, and enterprise sectors shared their innovative practices and experiences in the field of technology finance, jointly exploring how to further deepen tech finance services and provide financial support for high-level technological self-reliance and strength.

Coordination of Equity, Debt, Loan, and Insurance Support Gains Strength

Diversified Financing “Toolbox” Continues to Expand

In recent years, the financial system and technology system have worked closely to strengthen institutional and market system construction, making significant progress in debt, equity, and insurance areas, with continuous improvement in the quality and efficiency of financial services for technological innovation. The loan services for small and medium tech enterprises have expanded in scale, support from capital markets for tech innovation has increased, venture capital and private equity investments have significantly risen, and the risk protection capacity of tech insurance has been steadily strengthened.

In terms of credit services, several highlights stand out: first, rapid growth, with the balance of loans to high-tech enterprises increasing faster than all other loans; second, broader coverage, with over half of tech-based SMEs receiving loans, and the loan coverage rate increasing by 2 percentage points year-on-year; third, reduced costs, with the interest rate on newly issued loans to high-tech enterprises decreasing by 0.4 percentage points in 2025 compared to the previous year; fourth, manageable risks, as the non-performing loan rate for high-tech enterprise loans remains below the average non-performing rate for all loans; fifth, strong guarantees, with the insurance industry providing over 8 trillion yuan in risk protection for tech innovation, and claims paid increasing by over 65% year-on-year in 2025.

In the bond market, the issuance of sci-tech innovation bonds (科创债) will mark its first anniversary, becoming another important channel supporting tech companies. According to Sun Tianqi, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Merchant Association, by the end of February 2026, 351 tech companies and equity investment institutions in the interbank market had issued 80k yuan in sci-tech innovation bonds, strongly supporting the development of tech enterprises. Currently, all sci-tech innovation bonds have maturities of over one year, with an average maturity of 3.1 years. The proportion of funds raised directly supporting sci-tech fields continues to increase, better matching the medium- and long-term R&D funding needs of tech companies.

“Science and technology innovation bonds have strongly supported the development of venture capital institutions and also promoted more funds to flow into hard-tech enterprises.” Last May, CAS Star became one of the first private equity investment institutions nationwide to successfully issue sci-tech innovation bonds. According to Mi Lei, founding partner of CAS Star, these bonds effectively supplement the liquidity of venture capital institutions, increasing CAS Star’s investment capacity and actively supporting social capital participation. “A 400 million yuan sci-tech innovation bond mobilized 10.3 billion yuan, precisely targeting 218 hard-tech projects, achieving a ‘two-way leverage’ effect,” he said.

Direct financing support is essential for industrial innovation and commercialization. In recent years, relevant departments have focused on leveraging the functions of capital markets to support tech finance development. The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has adhered to a problem-oriented approach, making breakthroughs in private equity, issuance and listing, and bond market system construction, actively promoting high-quality development of tech companies through mergers, acquisitions, and stock incentives, and guiding financial resources to support tech innovation. As of now, over 600 tech companies have been listed on the STAR Market, raising more than 960 billion yuan; nearly 600 companies are listed on the ChiNext under the registration system, raising over 110k yuan. From May 2025 to February 2026, the exchanges issued 927 sci-tech innovation bonds, totaling over 250k yuan.

Wang Bo, member of the Party Committee and Deputy General Manager of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, introduced that in recent years, the SSE has worked to enhance institutional inclusiveness and adaptability, striving to increase the “science” content of listed companies. Over the past five years, nearly 70% of newly listed companies on the SSE have been tech innovation enterprises. Since the launch of the STAR Market six years ago, it has supported 605 “hard tech” companies to go public, with a total market value exceeding 11 trillion yuan.

Government, Banks, and Enterprises Discuss Patience Capital

Building a Collaborative and Complementary Financial Support “Ecosystem”

The development of tech enterprises requires patience capital support. Focusing on the funding needs at different stages of development, representatives from government, banking, and enterprise sectors engaged in in-depth discussions on how to further utilize tools such as bank credit, tech insurance, capital markets, venture capital, and tech innovation bonds to build a collaborative and mutually reinforcing tech enterprise financial service “ecosystem.”

As the main force serving the real economy, commercial banks are constructing an open financial ecosystem through “investment-loan linkage” models. China Bank is exploring a distinctive development path of “precise service, integrated cultivation, and ecological empowerment.” According to China Bank Chairman Ge Haijiao, by establishing an integrated service mechanism for commercial investment and banking, a client pool assessment system, and a combined due diligence and liability exemption mechanism, the bank has built a “collaborative investment and loan, risk sharing, and profit sharing” tech finance model, promoting unified cognition, streamlined processes, and integrated services for investment and loans, providing more continuous and predictable comprehensive financial support for tech enterprises.

“Technology finance is our primary competitive arena, advancing with a ‘digital intelligence’ strategy,” said Zhang Weizhong, Chairman of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank. The bank is developing a “bank + investment bank + ecosystem” service model aligned with technological maturity curves, establishing a “equity-debt-loan-insurance-lease-incubation” service system throughout the lifecycle of tech enterprises. By the end of 2025, it had served 250k tech innovation companies.

Venture capital cooperation with banks is a key link in the investment-loan linkage. Mi Lei of CAS Star noted that combining bank loans with venture capital can more effectively identify and support high-quality tech startups. He suggested building an ecosystem of cooperation among various financial institutions at the institutional level, leveraging the “source water” of bank insurance, the “main artery” of parent funds, and the “capillaries” of venture capital, forming a joint force to precisely support “hard tech” companies.

As a representative of tech enterprises, Wang He, CTO of Genshin Intelligent Robots, said, “The ‘hard tech’ innovation process involves many hurdles, requiring long-term patience capital support. The transformation of innovative results needs deep integration with scene-based finance.” He added, “Over the past two years, nearly 6 billion yuan of patient capital guided by the state has been invested in us—early-stage venture capital and national industrial funds’ patience and courage for original innovation helped us survive the ‘valley of death.’” He expressed hope that the tech finance system can further guide more long-term funds into foundational innovation and exploration in uncharted areas.

In promoting deep integration of technology, finance, and industry, and building a tech finance “ecosystem,” local governments play an indispensable guiding role. For example, Hangzhou, which has cultivated tech startups like the “Hangzhou Six Little Dragons,” shared its successful experience in innovatively constructing a “five-in-one” tech finance system of “investment, loans, subsidies, guarantees, and insurance,” strengthening diversified financing guarantees.

“On the ‘investment’ side, the government dares to invest first. On the ‘loan’ side, it targets financing pain points. On the ‘subsidy’ side, it promotes financial and fiscal coordination. On the ‘guarantee’ side, it optimizes risk sharing. On the ‘insurance’ side, it expands coverage.” Chen Jin, Standing Committee Member and Executive Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, explained that the city’s “five-in-one” approach has led to the formation of a “3+N” industrial fund cluster with a scale exceeding 300 billion yuan, and a tech credit scale surpassing 800 billion yuan, providing multiple financing guarantees for tech enterprises.

From initial breakthroughs to forming a momentum, with coordinated efforts across departments, continuous improvement of diversified financial service systems, and accelerated construction of the financial “ecosystem,” technology finance is injecting continuous momentum into high-level technological self-reliance and strength with more precise and efficient approaches.