新希望集团 New Hope Group

2016/7/5 0:00:00
【英国金融时报】中国农业巨头新希望发力互联网银行

中国首家非公有制银行的联合筹办发起人刘永好，开始将注意力转向投资新的互联网金融业务——民营银行，他表示，单单依靠传统银行业很难支持当前的中小微创业企业发展。
“我们传统的银行和金融机构主要服务于央企和政府，”白手起家的农业综合企业大亨、民生银行（Minsheng Bank）创始人之一刘永好向英国《金融时报》表示，“从他们成立之日起，就不是以为民营企业提供融资为主要目标的。”
刘永好还表示：“中国既有的银行业很难满足当下的经济发展需求”，他指出，民营企业如今占到了中国经济产出的60%。
一般来说，中国的银行更喜欢贷款给大型国企，但一些经济学家称，近年来这一问题变得更加严重。过去五年，银行业的不良贷款率不断增加，使得银行更不愿意向民营企业提供家贷款服务。
刘永好表示，这一问题在农村偏远地区更为严重。1982年刘永好在四川从农业领域开始创业，获得第一桶金，新希望集团始创于当时。据介绍，中国农民至今不拥有土地所有权，而只是从国家承包土地，因此无法利用土地作为抵押获得银行贷款。
“船大难掉头，”刘永好说，“（中国国有）银行想改变，但它们体量太大，无法这样做。”
净资产为41亿美元的刘永好，在2016年《福布斯》中国亿万富豪榜上排名第28位。
民营企业融资难、融资贵，这一现象已经被中国政府列为一项重要的政策挑战。去年，中国政府开始在这一领域进行民营银行试点计划，迄今为止，包括第一批试点银行在内，已经批准成立了七家民营银行。
刘永好的新发起的互联网金融投资——四川希望银行（Sichuan Hope Bank）今年6月通过了监管机构的筹建审批。该银行是一家合资公司，其他主要股东还包括智能手机制造商小米科技（Xiaomi）以及四川地区领先的连锁超市成都红旗连锁（Chengdu Hongqi）。
对于希望银行的经营模式，刘永好及其合作股东主张以互联网为主，从而避免产生传统的线下实体营业网点会带来的高成本。希望银行将采用大数据方式进行风控评估，以加快贷款审批，并为中小微初创企业创造公平的竞争环境。
四川希望银行并非首家采用互联网银行平台模式，并利用“大数据”评估客户风险的民营银行。例如，腾讯创建的微众银行会通过微信平台查阅贷款申请人的评论和发帖以对客户资质做出评估。
早在八年前，新希望集团就开始向农村初创企业提供小额贷款支持，在销售猪饲料及设备之外，旗下的普惠金融公司也会为有意建立小型养猪厂的农民提供融资服务。
虽然，一些需要向新希望申请融资服务的农民并没有经商的经验，但刘永好认为更重要的是从中发现这些未来能够成功的人。“他们可以从在城市打工的经历了解市场，”他说。
但刘永好表示，他对给他们贷款是有信心的，尤其是回乡创业的农民工。但刘永好表示，他对给他们贷款是有信心的，尤其是回乡创业的农民工。但刘永好表示，他对给他们贷款是有信心的，尤其是回乡创业的农民工。

以下为报道英文原文：

China agribusiness tycoon ventures into mobile banking

The co-founder of China’s first privately owned bank is turning his attention to a new internet finance venture, saying that the traditional banking sector cannot be relied upon to support entrepreneurial businesses.
“Our banks and financial institutions serve the state-owned sector and the government,” Liu Yonghao, a self-made agribusiness tycoon and co-founder of Minsheng Bank, told the Financial Times. “From the time they were founded, they lacked the objective of providing funding for private enterprises.”
Mr Liu added: “The banking sector isn’t fit for the age we live in”, noting that privately owned businesses now account for 60 per cent of China’s economic output.
Chinese banks have traditionally preferred to lend to large state-owned businesses, but some economists say the problem has become worse in recent years. Non-performing loans have increased over the past five years, making bankers more hesitant to lend to private sector entrepreneurs.
The problem is even more acute in rural areas, according to Mr Liu, who made his initial fortune in the agricultural sector. Mr Liu’s New Hope Group was established in Sichuan province in 1982.
Farmers are not allowed to own land but instead lease it from the state, so cannot use it as collateral to secure bank loans.
“A big ship is difficult to turn round,” said Mr Liu, “[China’s state] banks want to change but are too big to do so.”
Mr Liu has a net worth of $4.1bn and is ranked number 28 in China on the Forbes Billionaires List from 2016.
The Chinese government has identified the private sector’s funding challenges as a vital policy challenge. Last year it started a pilot programme that has approved the establishment of seven privately owned banks.
Mr Liu’s new internet finance venture, Sichuan Hope Bank, received its final regulatory approvals in June. It is a joint venture with Xiaomi, the smartphone manufacturer, and a Sichuan-based supermarket chain, Chengdu Hongqi.
Mr Liu and his partners embraced an online business model to avoid the costs associated with bricks-and-mortar branches. Credit risk will be assessed through automated systems in an effort to hasten lending approvals and level the playing field for small start-ups.
Sichuan Hope Bank is not the first to embrace mobile banking platforms and use “big data” to assess client risks. Tencent’s WeBank, for example, reviews loan applicants’ comments and posts on its popular WeChat messaging service.
New Hope Group has a record of lending to rural start-ups: eight years ago, it branched out from selling pig feed and equipment to providing trade financing for farmers who wanted to set up small pig-farming factories.
Although the farmers would come to New Hope without business experience, Mr Liu felt he could identify the successful type. “They could understand markets from doing labour in the cities,” he said.
But Mr Liu said he felt confident lending to them, especially former migrant workers who had returned home.