China's National Financial Regulatory Administration has unveiled an action plan to strengthen Shanghai's role as an international financial center, with the Lin-gang Special Area set to expand its pilot program for financial leasing innovation.

Specifically, the plan encourages the establishment of companies in Lin-gang to conduct financial leasing businesses involving data center equipment, resource extraction machinery, industrial robots, simulators, and aviation materials.

Dishui Lake Financial Bay. [Photo/WeChat ID: shlgguanweihui]

The inclusion of these categories among eligible leasing assets reflects China's focus on developing new quality productive forces by reducing the substantial upfront capital requirements of advanced manufacturing and strategic emerging industries, including civil aviation, AI, cloud computing, and industrial internet.

Lin-gang's advantage in financial leasing innovation extends beyond its pioneering and continuously expanding pilot program. Equally significant is its commitment to building a comprehensive institutional framework supported by dedicated service platforms. 

These efforts include establishing a leasing asset transfer center to improve asset liquidity and resource allocation efficiency, streamlining the registration of external claims for cross-border and offshore leasing, allowing parent and subsidiary companies to share foreign debt quotas, and exploring mechanisms for the cross-border transfer of leasing assets.