By Zhang Wei, member of the Party Committee and Assistant Dean of PBC School of Finance, Tsinghua University, Vice President of the National Institute of Financial Research, Tsinghua University, and Executive Editor-in-Chief of Tsinghua Financial Review
In order to give full play to the role of finance in promoting the formation and development of new productive forces, on the one hand, we should vigorously develop science and technology finance and enhance the support of commercial banks in the field of scientific and technological innovation; On the other hand, it is necessary to break through the blockages of digital transformation of commercial banks, strengthen the application of digital technology, and form new models and new forms of digital finance.
From the first time proposed during the local inspection in 2023, to the deployment of the Central Economic Work Conference and the collective learning focus of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee in 2024, and then to the in-depth explanation of the National People's Congress and the National People's Congress, General Secretary Xi Jinping has put forward clear requirements for the development of new quality productive forces and guided development practice. The development, change, and leap of the productive forces inevitably require the relations of production to be adjusted accordingly and adapted to them. As information and data increasingly become important factors of production, digitalization has become the basic condition for new quality productivity to become a reality. In order to give full play to the role of finance in promoting the formation and development of new productive forces, on the one hand, we should vigorously develop science and technology finance and enhance the support of commercial banks in the field of scientific and technological innovation; On the other hand, it is necessary to break through the blockages of digital transformation of commercial banks, strengthen the application of digital technology, and form new models and new forms of digital finance.
Commercial banks are an important force in the cultivation and development of new productive forces
In September 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping first put forward the concept of "new quality productivity" during his inspection in Heilongjiang, elaborating on the specific performance of new quality productivity, including strategic emerging industries and future industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information. In December 2023, the Central Economic Work Conference proposed to "lead the construction of a modern industrial system with scientific and technological innovation", and made a special elaboration on the new quality of productivity, emphasizing that "disruptive technology and cutting-edge technology will give birth to new industries, new models, new kinetic energy, and develop new quality productivity." On January 31, 2024, when presiding over the 11th collective study of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on solidly promoting high-quality development, General Secretary Xi Jinping authoritatively expounded on major theoretical issues such as the connotation, characteristics, and core elements of the new quality productivity. In a nutshell, "the new quality of productivity is the quality of advanced productivity that plays a leading role in innovation, gets rid of the traditional economic growth mode and productivity development path, has the characteristics of high technology, high efficiency and high quality, and conforms to the new development concept." On March 5, 2024, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized when participating in the deliberations of the Jiangsu delegation at the second session of the 14th National People's Congress that "the development of new quality productivity in accordance with local conditions" "should prevent a rush and bubble, and do not engage in a model" and "selectively promote the development of new industries, new models and new kinetic energy according to local resource endowments, industrial bases, scientific research conditions, etc." At the same time, the "2024 Government Work Report" will "vigorously promote the construction of a modern industrial system and accelerate the development of new quality productivity" as the primary task of the government's work in 2024.
General Secretary Xi Jinping attaches great importance to the role of advanced productive forces, creatively puts forward the concept of "new quality productivity", points out the decisive force to stimulate new kinetic energy in the new development stage, clarifies the key focus of reshaping the new advantages of global competition, and provides important guidelines and fundamental directions for promoting high-quality development in the new era. The proposal of new quality productivity is an important result of the continuous transformation and upgrading of China's industrial structure, an important output to continuously promote high-quality development, and an important embodiment of the new leap in productivity. At the same time, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that "the relations of production must be compatible with the requirements of the development of productive forces." To develop new quality productive forces, it is necessary to further deepen reform in an all-round way and form a new type of production relationship that is compatible with it. It is necessary to deepen the reform of the economic system and the scientific and technological system, focus on breaking through the blockages that restrict the development of new quality productive forces, establish a high-standard market system, innovate the allocation of production factors, and let all kinds of advanced and high-quality production factors flow smoothly to the development of new quality productive forces. ”
Finance is the lifeblood of the national economy, and commercial banks are the main force in the financial industry. In the process of cultivating and developing new quality productive forces, the financial industry has an unshirkable responsibility, and commercial banks can and will certainly be able to play a major role. Serving the development of new productive forces is not only the key focus of financial support for high-quality development, but also the practical need to realize the transformation and upgrading of commercial banks. To develop a new type of productive force, we need a new type of production relationship that is compatible with it. Correspondingly, in order to enable commercial banks to better empower the formation and development of new quality productivity, the banking field also needs to further deepen reform and improve relevant systems and mechanisms, so as to provide institutional guarantee for commercial banks to support scientific and technological innovation and their own digital transformation, and continue to inject financial momentum into the development of new quality productivity.
Vigorously develop science and technology finance, and enhance the support of commercial banks for scientific and technological innovation
Science and technology finance plays an important role in promoting the development of new productive forces
Scientific and technological innovation is the fundamental driving force for the development of new quality productive forces. The new industries, new forms of business and new models derived from scientific and technological innovation are the realistic embodiment of new quality productivity. The key and key to commercial banks in supporting and serving new quality productive forces is to vigorously develop science and technology finance and increase support and services for science and technology innovation and science and technology enterprises.
Serving new quality productivity is the key focus of financial support for high-quality development. Regulators should fully support scientific and technological innovation and provide financial services for the whole life cycle of scientific and technological innovation enterprises. For example, we will actively study the use of financial asset investment companies as a platform to expand the scope of equity investment pilots and further increase support for science and technology enterprises. In addition, it will fully support future industries and emerging industries, and promote the digital and intelligent transformation of traditional industries, so as to shape new momentum and new advantages for development.
As the first of the "five major articles" proposed by the 2023 Central Financial Work Conference, science and technology finance plays an important role in promoting the development and formation of new quality productive forces. In order to thoroughly implement the spirit of the Central Economic Work Conference and the Central Financial Work Conference, and do a solid job in science and technology finance, the State Administration of Financial Supervision has formulated and issued the "Notice on Strengthening the Financial Services of the Whole Life Cycle of Science and Technology Enterprises" to guide more financial resources to be used to promote scientific and technological innovation, and provide diversified financial services according to the needs of science and technology enterprises at different stages of development such as start-up, growth and maturity. According to the data, as of the end of 2023, the balance of loans to high-tech enterprises in China increased by 20.2% year-on-year, of which medium and long-term loans and credit loans accounted for more than 40%. The balance of loans to the manufacturing industry increased by 17.1% year-on-year, of which the balance of medium and long-term loans to the manufacturing industry increased by 29.1% year-on-year.
Commercial banks should strengthen risk management and innovative products and services to support science and technology finance
Commercial banks play a pivotal role in supporting the development of innovative enterprises. By providing loans to innovative enterprises, commercial banks have effectively reduced their financing costs, which not only accelerates the pace of technological research and development and application, but also promotes scientific and technological progress and product innovation, injecting new impetus into economic development. In addition, commercial banks' lending support to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has promoted economic diversification, helping them to expand their scale and enhance their market competitiveness. These measures are of far-reaching significance for promoting employment, increasing residents' income, and maintaining social stability.
At present, many banks, such as Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Industrial Bank, have achieved phased results in supporting scientific and technological innovation and advanced manufacturing. For example, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has set up a science and technology finance center of the head office, and initially formed a professional service system with four-level linkage of the head office and branches. Carry out the "Spring Sprout Action" in depth, and increase efforts to support the financing of science and technology enterprises. Strengthen the linkage of "stocks, loans, debts and guarantees", increase the investment of specialized, special and new loans, stimulate the leading role of scientific and technological innovation in the modern industrial system, and help the virtuous cycle of "science and technology-industry-finance". In 2023, the balance of loans for strategic emerging industries will be 2.7 trillion yuan, an increase of 54.1% over the previous year. CCB has launched the "Science and Technology Enterprise Financing Chain" for different stages of the life cycle of technology-based enterprises, and launched various exclusive credit products at various stages of enterprise establishment, technology research and development, and achievement transformation.
ABC focuses on the "chain length" of the industrial chain of central enterprises, takes the lead in docking with the supply chain financing platform of central enterprises, and uses supply chain service platforms such as "ABC Smart Chain" to promote central enterprises to improve their basic solid chain, technical supplement chain, integration and strengthening chain, and optimization of plastic chain capabilities with financial services for the whole industry chain. In terms of green finance, IB has formed a green financial service system covering green credit, green bonds, green trusts, green leasing, green funds, and green wealth management. Zheshang Bank has fully implemented the project of science and technology finance to help the development of new quality productivity, regarded science and technology finance as one of the key strategic businesses of the bank, and issued the "Implementation Opinions on the High-quality Development of Science and Technology Financial Services of Zheshang Bank", which put forward the goals and 37 work measures for the high-quality development of science and technology finance to ensure that the annual growth rate of the financing scale of science and technology enterprises is higher than the average growth rate of various loans (see the above table).
In order to give full play to the role of science and technology finance in helping the development of new productive forces, financial regulators should play a leading role in policies, and commercial banks need to innovate their service systems. On the one hand, financial regulators should promote the improvement of a multi-level technology financial service system. Under the premise of controllable risks, financial regulators should steadily promote the construction of science and technology financial reform pilot zones, deepen financial support measures for the manufacturing industry, guide financial institutions to implement various policy requirements, continue to increase support for scientific and technological innovation and advanced manufacturing, and provide strong support for accelerating the construction of a modern industrial system.
On the other hand, commercial banks should strengthen risk management and innovate financial products and services. In order to cope with the emerging new types of risks, commercial banks need to establish a more flexible and integrated risk management system. For example, the introduction of new risk assessment tools, enhanced monitoring of macroeconomic trends, and increased sensitivity to market dynamics. At the same time, commercial banks also need to continuously innovate financial products and services. For example, the launch of blockchain-based supply chain financing services to provide flexible financing and payment tools for small and micro enterprises. In addition, commercial banks can explore partnering with fintech companies to jointly develop innovative products.
Deepening the Digital Transformation of Commercial Banks and Consolidating the "Technological Core" of Empowering New Quality Productivity
The author believes that the development of digital finance and the deepening of the digital transformation of commercial banks still need to be strengthened in terms of improving the digital governance system, vigorously developing digital technology and cultivating the digital genes of commercial banks.
In terms of improving the top-level design, at present, there are still some problems in the financial data governance of mainland China, such as low data quality, relatively lagging data mining and utilization, and unclear data rights boundaries. It is necessary to continue to improve the legal and regulatory system, for example, in promoting the construction of the data circulation system, continuously enrich and improve the valuation and pricing power of data elements and related income distribution mechanisms, and introduce relevant policies and industry standards. Establish a public service platform for data at the national level, open up data such as taxation and social security, and reduce data use costs and improve data use efficiency through low pricing. At the same time, banks can also strengthen cooperation with each other, rely on their respective advantages, and improve the customer information chain through models such as "consumption scenario + business product" and "online + offline", so as to provide more targeted financial products and achieve a win-win situation for partners. For financial institutions, it is also necessary to unify construction standards and integrate internal data resources. For example, in terms of data collection, establish a top-down and coordinated data governance system, clarify the process and standards of data exchange between systems, and realize the effective sharing of various types of data.
In terms of vigorously developing digital technology, on the one hand, commercial banks must continue to increase investment in technology in the future. According to the "2023 Research Report on Digital Transformation of China's Banking Industry" released by iResearch, the scale of IT investment in China's banking industry will reach 400 billion yuan in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 24.6%, and it is still necessary to continue to increase investment on this basis in the future. However, it should be noted that banks of different sizes should have different choices, for example, large and medium-sized banks should maintain their own core technologies, increase investment, build their own systems, and build their own core competitiveness, that is, large banks are the long-term solution to practice their internal skills. Small and medium-sized banks, on the other hand, may consider outsourcing some of their business or cooperating with other platform companies to build their core competitiveness in other areas. On the other hand, commercial banks should continue to strengthen the cultivation of technical talents. With the continuous deepening of the development of digital finance, the industry's demand for compound talents who understand both finance and technology is growing rapidly. However, due to the long training cycle and the rapid development of fintech, fintech talents will still face a large supply gap in the short term. Commercial banks should take precautions and strengthen the cultivation of technical talents, so as to lay a good foundation for digital transformation and escort the development of digital finance.
In terms of cultivating the digital genes of commercial banks, the digital transformation of commercial banks is not only a digital transformation of their business and their strategies, but also a transformation and even subversion of the way of thinking. First, it is necessary to follow the Internet spirit of openness, equality, collaboration, speed, and sharing, and reconstruct the underlying logic of the business from the perspective of users to meet the needs of digital development. Second, it is necessary to improve the design of the top-level system, formulate a digital transformation strategy, and optimize the organizational structure and business processes in accordance with the new underlying business logic. In practice, financial institutions can learn from the excellent experience of technology companies and platform companies, rely on digital technology, embed financial services into people's life scenarios and enterprise industrial ecology, and provide products and services that match their needs based on user needs, so as to achieve accurate customer acquisition, precision marketing, and precise risk control.
Shape new production relations and strengthen the institutional guarantee for commercial banks to empower new quality productivity
The new type of production relations should be adjusted to suit the development of the productive forces
The production of material materials is the basis for the existence and development of human society, and it is also the starting point of the study of Marxist political economy. The fundamental cause of the changes in human society is rooted in the changes in the production and development of material materials. In the process of engaging in the production of material materials, human society has to have two relationships: on the one hand, the relationship between man and nature, which is manifested as productive forces and the natural attributes of production; On the other hand, it is the relationship between people, which is manifested as the relationship of production, which is the social attribute of production.
The productive forces determine the relations of production. First of all, a certain level of development and development stage of the productive forces determines a certain production relationship. Second, the development, changes, and development requirements of the productive forces determine the generation, development, and replacement of production relations. This also includes the fact that, with the development of the productive forces, it is necessary to carry out necessary changes and continuous improvements in certain links, aspects, or specific forms of existence in the relations of production that are not suited to the development of the productive forces, provided that the fundamental nature of certain relations of production remains unchanged. At the same time, the relations of production have a counterproductive effect on the productive forces. When the relations of production meet the requirements of the development of the productive forces, they actively promote the development of the productive forces; When the relations of production do not meet the requirements of the development of the productive forces, they become shackles to the development of the productive forces, hindering and undermining the development of the productive forces. At this time, the relations of production must be changed in order to liberate and develop the productive forces.
The new quality productive forces are formed by the continuous promotion of key breakthroughs in the technological revolution, and their development also requires the adjustment of production relations and the support of the social system. Therefore, in order to further accelerate the development of the new-quality productive forces, it is necessary to form and perfect a new type of production relations that are compatible with them. The new quality productive forces are developing dynamically, which determines that the production relations that adapt to them are also in constant change. The mainland needs to base itself on the long term and reform the relations of production with a strategic vision in order to promote the rapid formation and development of new productive forces. For the financial sector, it is necessary to build a new modern financial system based on digital technology to meet the capital requirements of new quality productivity.
The reform of the financial system and mechanism provides institutional guarantee for commercial banks to empower new quality productivity
Since the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the reform of the mainland's financial system and mechanism has been continuously promoted, providing an institutional guarantee for the financial sector to shape a new type of production relationship. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China proposed to "deepen the reform of the financial system, build a modern central bank system, strengthen and improve modern financial supervision, strengthen the financial stability guarantee system, and bring all kinds of financial activities into supervision in accordance with the law, so as to maintain the bottom line of no systemic risks." ”
On the one hand, through the reform of financial regulators, we will prevent and resolve major economic and financial risks, and improve the quality and efficiency of financial assistance to high-quality economic development. The current round of financial regulatory reform has coordinated and optimized the central and local regulatory systems, and improved the ability to prevent and resolve major financial risks. At the level of the CPC Central Committee, the Central Financial Commission has been established, the Office of the Central Financial Commission has been established, the Central Financial Work Committee has been established, and the Office of the Central Financial Commission has been co-located, and the responsibilities of the Office of the Financial Commission of the State Council have been transferred to the Office of the Central Financial Commission. At the local level, a local financial supervision system has been formed with the local dispatched agencies of the central financial management department as the mainstay, and the setting up and strength allocation of the local dispatched agencies of the central financial management department have been optimized as a whole, and the financial regulatory agencies set up by local governments have specialized in regulatory responsibilities, and no longer have the brands of financial work bureaus and financial offices, thus systematically solving the institutional and mechanism problems existing in local financial supervision in the past.
On the other hand, the specific direction and content of the reform in the financial sector should be clarified, and the protection of the rights and interests of financial consumers should be strengthened to the greatest extent. This financial regulatory reform has more than 10 important measures in specific aspects. At the same time, the Central Financial Work Conference also gave a clear direction for specific development areas. It is necessary to do a good job in science and technology finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, and digital finance. Efforts should be made to build modern financial institutions and market systems to dredge the channels for funds to enter the real economy. In addition, the State Administration of Financial Supervision and Administration is responsible for the protection of the rights and interests of financial consumers, strengthens risk management and prevention and disposal, investigates and punishes violations of laws and regulations in accordance with the law, and incorporates investor protection into comprehensive supervision, which will help relevant financial institutions to vigorously promote the business boundaries and innovative development in the field of wealth management under the framework of laws and regulations.
Breaking through the blockages of digital development is the key for commercial banks to empower new quality productivity
Since the new quality productivity is a contemporary advanced productivity born by technological revolutionary breakthroughs, innovative allocation of production factors, and in-depth industrial transformation and upgrading, the new quality productivity has a new factor composition and development path. One of the major challenges to the existing production relations is the challenge brought by the digitalization of labor materials to the management mode and system construction of the existing production process. At the same time, the virtualization of labor objects and labor results also requires certain changes in circulation, exchange and distribution and other links and mechanisms.
In fact, at different stages of economic development, the innovation of science and technology has always brought about profound changes in the productive forces and great progress in human society. At present, global scientific and technological innovation has entered an intensive and active period, and a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation has endowed the productive forces with more characteristics of the times, scientific and technological content and innovative connotations, making them present a different appearance from the traditional productive forces. For example, at the beginning of 2023, OpenAI detonated the global tech circle and released a new chatbot model - ChatGPT. At the beginning of 2024, OpenAI released the first Wensheng video model - Sora.
Sora can quickly produce videos up to a minute long, which means that after text and images, OpenAI has expanded its advanced AI technology to the video field, achieving full coverage of mainstream generative AI models. Although the application of AI is still in its infancy, for industries such as film and television, games, and advertising, the emergence of powerful content production tools has a significant effect on improving efficiency and reducing costs for the industry, and can even help the industry explore new business models and increase company revenue. Therefore, the key to forming and developing new quality productivity lies in the early layout of frontier fields, planning transformative technologies in advance, and consolidating the technological foundation for future development.
For commercial banks, the support for digitalization and their own digital construction are the key points to empower new quality productivity. However, at present, there are still some pain points, blockages and stuck points in the production relationship, and it is necessary to provide institutional guarantee for the continuous improvement of productivity through comprehensive deepening reform. In particular, a targeted top-level design is proposed for pain points, blocking points and stuck points, and various practical problems restricting the development of new quality productivity are solved by strengthening overall planning and coordination.
Specifically, it is necessary to form a financial product and service system that can efficiently support the development of new quality productive forces. On the one hand, it is necessary to further improve the support policies of commercial banks for emerging industries, vigorously develop science and technology finance, and enhance support for scientific and technological innovation. On the other hand, it is necessary to get through the pain points, blockages and stuck points of commercial banks' digital transformation, strengthen the application of digital technology, and increase support for the digital transformation and upgrading of core industries and traditional industries of the digital economy.
Article source丨Modern Commercial Bank: Management Wisdom, Issue 04, 2024
This article is edited by Zhou Mingyi
Editor-in-charge丨Ding Kaiyan, Lan Yinfan
Preliminary trial丨Xu Lanying
Final Review丨Zhang Wei
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