Innovative Inclusive Finance: Zhejiang Bank Beijing Branch Boosts Domestic Medical Equipment Upgrade

On the path to safeguarding human health, the importance of medical equipment is self-evident. It is not only a symbol of technological progress but also a key factor in improving the quality of medical services and ensuring the safety of people's lives.

Kuanton (Beijing) Medical Devices Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kuanton") is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the research and development, production, and sales of medical imaging equipment and related technologies. After years of independent innovation and continuous breakthroughs in technical barriers, the company has now won more than 240 national patents. Its imaging products have achieved full coverage from practical and economical models to high-end fields, meeting the imaging examination and clinical research needs of medical institutions at all levels.

Recently, during research, it was learned that Kuanton focuses its sales strategy on grassroots medical institutions in third and fourth-tier cities, promoting advanced medical imaging equipment such as magnetic resonance (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) systems, and X-ray, to help improve the level of grassroots medical care. This allows people in a wider range of areas to enjoy high-quality medical services and promotes the balanced distribution of medical resources.

However, financing issues for the company itself and downstream small medical institutions often become obstacles during business promotion. To accurately empower technology companies and support the development of China's medical industry, the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank has designed innovative scene projects based on the company's business characteristics, fully supporting the smooth and efficient popularization and promotion of domestic medical equipment, and promoting the development of new quality productive forces.

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Scene Innovation Expands Business Ideas

Kuanton was established in August 2011, with its headquarters in Beijing, providing global medical imaging equipment and services such as magnetic resonance (MRI), computerized tomography (CT) systems, and X-ray (X-Ray). The group has nearly 600 employees, with more than 35% being research and development personnel, forming a vast research and development, marketing, and service network.

According to Kuanton's Chairman Cai Yuliang, as a leader in the domestic medical imaging equipment field, Kuanton firmly grasps the direction of new quality productive forces and insists on independent research and development over the long term. It invests a large amount of operational resources in the development of domestic equipment, driving the global radiation of domestic medical imaging equipment energy with "innovation and intelligent manufacturing."

"As a national brand, in the competition with imported medical equipment brands, Kuanton needs to further expand the application scenarios of equipment and increase market coverage. However, small hospitals and clinics in China that need to purchase medical equipment are subject to financial pressure due to capital accounts and the full prepayment method for equipment procurement, and banking institutions have not yet widely provided equipment mortgage loan products for single companies," said Cai Yuliang.

To solve this pain point and support the further development of the domestic medical equipment industry, the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank has launched the "Zhejiang Equipment Loan" medical equipment scene project. By innovating financial product design, it significantly reduces the initial financial pressure on medical institutions with a down payment ratio as low as 15% and a loan term of up to 5 years. This not only effectively solves the procurement party's financial problems but also opens up a broader market space for Kuanton, promoting the further development of the domestic medical equipment industry.

The renewal and upgrade of medical equipment are the trends of the times. In March this year, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Replacement," and manufacturing enterprises ushered in a large-scale renewal and replacement of equipment.Encouraged by policies, the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank has launched the "Zhejiang Silver Equipment Loan" medical equipment innovation scenario project focusing on "equipment renewal" scenarios, which has been carried out well. The branch has successfully handled "Zhejiang Silver Equipment Loan" business for 10 private hospitals, involving medical institutions in Zhejiang, Sichuan, Liaoning, and other places, specifically for purchasing Kuanteng brand medical imaging equipment.

Next, the person in charge of the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank said that they will continue to provide similar support for private hospitals and clinics, further improving the service quality and efficiency of small medical institutions, and promoting the market application of domestic medical equipment.

Focusing on the downstream and increasing inclusive finance, the cooperation between the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank and Kuanteng started at the beginning of 2023. In October 2023, the Central Financial Work Conference proposed that financial institutions should do a good job in "five major articles" of technology finance, inclusive finance, pension finance, green finance, and digital finance.

"How to start writing the 'five major articles' is very important for grassroots banking business," the person in charge of the Tiantongyuan branch of Zheshang Bank in Beijing told reporters. "Taking Kuanteng as an example, as a leading enterprise in the field of domestic medical imaging equipment, they have long insisted on independent research and development, and have invested a lot of manpower and material resources in the research and development of domestic equipment. How to measure and evaluate these invested manpower and material costs? How to combine the development prospects of the enterprise to evaluate the future operating cash flow of the enterprise? This is an important financial issue."

The person in charge introduced: "In the early cooperation contact between the two parties, we learned that Kuanteng, to highlight the advantages of differentiated competition, focuses on medical institutions in third and fourth-tier cities. This is a very effective market strategy, and combined with the industry barriers formed by independent research and development and production, we believe that the future development of the enterprise is promising. So, in the first cooperation, we determined a credit loan support limit of 10 million yuan. The real cooperation is very good. Half a year after the cooperation, we approved a loan limit of more than 65 million yuan by combining credit, equipment mortgage, and guarantees in various ways."

In fact, banking institutions generally provide less equipment mortgage loans for single enterprises. What are the considerations for the innovation of the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank?

"In the cooperation with Kuanteng, we learned that the end users of Kuanteng medical equipment are mainly private hospitals, private physical examination institutions, or clinics. These enterprises are real small and micro enterprises and are the real service objects for banks to practice inclusive finance," the person in charge of the Tiantongyuan branch of Zheshang Bank in Beijing said. "All along, in order to do a good job in inclusive finance business, Zheshang Bank focuses on scenario-based business, specifically helping small and micro enterprises solve medium and long-term capital needs in equipment renewal, technical transformation, green transformation, and other aspects. After on-site visits and research, we found that these terminal customers generally face difficulties in paying for equipment purchases at one time, hospitals or clinics face relocation during operation, and occasionally face operational difficulties that require selling equipment and other needs for inclusive financial services. Combining these actual situations, we cooperate with Kuanteng to design financial service products for Kuanteng's downstream enterprises, covering the whole process from equipment purchase to equipment operation, and then to the later transfer and disposal of equipment. This is indeed an innovative inclusive financial service model, which has been well received by customers since its launch. This business model truly realizes relying on core manufacturers to continuously and healthily serve small and micro enterprises, further improving the quality and efficiency of inclusive finance."

Looking forward, the person in charge of the Beijing branch of Zheshang Bank said that they will continue to expand the service scope of "Zhejiang Silver Equipment Loan", continuously innovate scenario financial services, empower the rising local enterprises, better support the popularization of domestic medical equipment and the healthy development of the pharmaceutical industry, and contribute to the construction of a stronger domestic medical equipment industry chain.