Deeply Cultivating the Syndicated Loan and Cross-Border Financing Fields: Empowering Chinese Banks’ Global Expansion with Professional Excellence

In the wave of globalized finance, Bi Wenyue, Executive Director of the Corporate Banking Department at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Asia) Limited, has forged an impressive career path through her outstanding professional competence and strategic vision in the fields of syndicated loans, cross-border financing, and client development. With a rich international perspective, solid expertise, and an enterprising spirit, she has repeatedly achieved remarkable results in syndicated loans and cross-border financing, building a strong bridge for Chinese enterprises to “go global” and fostering global financial cooperation. Deeply rooted in the syndicated loan markets of Hong Kong and Dubai, Bi Wenyue’s quantitative achievements vividly demonstrate her professional credo that “expertise creates value.”

Bi Wenyue’s financial career began in 2009 at the Qingdao Branch of ICBC, where she displayed sharp business insight and exceptional client service skills. During her five years at the branch, she successfully managed and served large regional Chinese corporate clients, ensuring high client satisfaction and loyalty while helping ICBC achieve steady growth in its local customer base. This laid a solid foundation for her subsequent professional advancement and service philosophy.

In 2015, Bi Wenyue’s career reached a turning point. That year, she successively served in the Green Energy Division of ICBC Head Office’s Structured Finance Department and the Corporate Banking Department of ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch. From coordinating projects at the head office to developing business in the Middle East, her vision broadened and her capabilities were comprehensively enhanced. At the Head Office, she focused on “Going Global” projects for Chinese enterprises, providing integrated financial solutions for major global power and energy companies. She regularly organized “Belt and Road” project promotion meetings with overseas branches, actively building coordination mechanisms between the head office and branches to facilitate landmark projects abroad. With a focus on “policy coordination, resource integration, and demand alignment,” she developed a project database and actively gathered key global project information through multiple channels, effectively serving the development of the real economy.

In December of the same year, Bi Wenyue was transferred to the ICBC Dubai (DIFC) Branch as Senior Manager of Corporate Banking. As the regional headquarters for the Middle East and North Africa, the Dubai branch operates in a market full of opportunities and challenges. Bi quickly adapted to the environment and expanded the business landscape through her professionalism. She primarily served key clients such as local government finance departments, sovereign wealth funds, government entities, and major oil industry companies.

In the syndicated loan business, she participated in several international projects, including sovereign wealth fund syndications and project financing for the world’s largest oil and gas reserve enterprises—each exceeding USD 1 billion. These achievements helped ICBC secure its position as one of the core relationship banks for major local clients and laid a solid foundation for future bilateral cooperation.

Of particular note, Bi fully leveraged the advantages of Chinese banks to design customized overseas financing solutions based on the financial needs of clients in the UAE and the wider Middle East. She led a syndication of Chinese banks for a UAE oil company and personally spearheaded the negotiation process. This not only diversified Middle Eastern clients’ banking partnerships but also successfully opened new channels of cooperation between Middle Eastern companies and Chinese banks, setting a strong example for Chinese banks’ regional growth. Additionally, she provided bilateral loan support to multiple quality enterprises to help realize their “Going Global” strategies, while actively delivering diversified services such as cash management—boosting customer value and maintaining a client retention rate above 90%.

In March 2021, Bi Wenyue joined ICBC (Asia) Limited as Executive Director of the Corporate Banking Department, overseeing the transportation and logistics sectors. As the flagship overseas branch of China’s largest bank and the global headquarters of the ICBC Group’s overseas operations, ICBC (Asia) offered her a broader platform to excel. During her tenure, she provided comprehensive banking services to more than 30 central and provincial state-owned enterprises in Hong Kong, covering industries such as syndicated loans, deposits, Belt and Road project financing, bilateral loans, and trade finance, meeting the diverse financial needs of corporate clients.

In the syndicated loan sector, Bi showcased outstanding coordination and management capabilities. She worked closely with Hong Kong branches of major Chinese and local banks—such as the Big Four, Bank of Communications, CMB Wing Lung, Everbright, Minsheng, Huaxia, and Ping An—to successfully advance major projects like the Hong Kong Airport Third Runway Project and the Kwai Tsing Terminal 8 Project. These projects play vital roles in Hong Kong’s transport infrastructure and logistics development, further consolidating ICBC’s leading position in the syndicated loan market.

In bilateral loan business, Bi leveraged her deep market insight and precise client analysis to continuously explore new opportunities. She actively promoted ICBC’s corporate banking services in structured financing, deposits, cash management, trade finance, and FX derivatives—successfully achieving the first major loan landings for several central SOEs’ Hong Kong platform companies. These milestones established ICBC as their core financing bank in Hong Kong and strengthened long-term strategic cooperation.

Global cash management and treasury services represent another highlight of Bi’s capabilities. Utilizing ICBC’s head office products and unified global system, she organized a comprehensive service team for a renowned rail transit enterprise, spanning operations across more than 30 countries. With Hong Kong as the top-tier account hub, she delivered global cash management services that optimized liquidity management and facilitated efficient cross-border fund transfers for clients—providing powerful financial support for multinational operations.

In client development and deposit business, Bi has continued to leverage internal and external coordination advantages, connecting multiple regional branches and capitalizing on the trend of mainland enterprises setting up Hong Kong subsidiaries. Through her professional expertise and dedicated service, she successfully developed over 10 high-quality settlement clients.

Nowadays, Bi Wenyue remains actively engaged on the front lines of cross-border finance. With her solid expertise, extensive practical experience, and broad international vision, she continues to deliver high-quality, efficient financial services—making significant contributions to the expansion of Chinese banks’ cross-border businesses and to the advancement of global financial cooperation.

(By Jasper Foster)