[Photo by Wang Yang]
On October 15, Northeast China's first cross-border ship financial leasing project was signed in the Dalian Area of China (Liaoning) Pilot Free Trade Zone (the Area).
This marks a significant step in advancing the upgrading strategy of the Area, supporting the upgrade of the manufacturing sector through financial innovation, exploring new forms of international trade, promoting the high-quality development of the regional ship industrial chain, and fostering a more competitive ship industrial cluster.
Ship financial leasing involves lessors purchasing a ship based on a lessee's specific requirements and preferred shipyard, then leasing the ship to said lessee, who pays rent in installments.
In this case, the project company established by Taiping & Sinopec Financial Leasing Co Ltd in the Area is the lessor, and the lessee is Sinopec Fuel Oil Sales Co Ltd. The agreement involves the operating lease of two Medium Range (MR) tankers, which will be built by COSCO SHIPPING Heavy Industry (Dalian) Co Ltd and are expected to be completed and put into use by 2027.
Jinpu New Area and the Area will expand financial leasing services in areas such as aircraft, ships, automobiles, containers, equipment manufacturing, and marine engineering. This will further enhance the role of financial leasing in supporting the development of the real economy, promote the high-quality development of Dalian's ship industry, foster innovation in maritime finance, and drive the growth of the financial leasing industry.
