High-rises dominate the skyline on both sides of the Huangpu River in Shanghai. [Photo by Gao Erqiang/China Daily]

By the end of 2025, financial services should cover all the Shanghai-based industry leaders and companies playing crucial roles along the key industrial and supply chains, according to an action plan released by the Shanghai regulatory bodies on Tuesday.

Efforts should be made to achieve integrated development between industries, technology and finance, said the plan. While attention will be directed to the key industrial clusters in Shanghai, reasonable financing demand of small and micro-sized enterprises along the industrial chain should also be properly addressed, said the plan.

By teaming up with other government bodies, the Shanghai Financial Regulatory Bureau will provide to the financial institutions a list of companies setting up their regional or trade headquarters in Shanghai. The municipal financial regulatory body will also link financial institutions with key companies, industry associations and chambers of commerce to create a win-win financial ecosystem, said the action plan.

Financial institutions should step up investment in fintech and apply blockchain, internet of things, big data and artificial intelligence in more scenarios. A full-process online capital monitoring model should be established. The pilot program of remote account opening should be expanded, according to the plan.

Financial institutions are encouraged to increase the financing of warehouse receipts and movable property pledges by using more technologies or the combination of online and offline services. Platform enterprises should be more actively involved in industrial finance by conducting researches and providing services for industrial segmentation and vertical scenarios.

The problems regarding transactions, bills and goods, which are more frequently encountered regarding the supply chain financial services, should be addressed by integrating information flow, capital flow, logistics and business flow, said the plan.

The bottom line of compliance should be firmly safeguarded, said the plan. False supply chain finance without a real transaction background is strictly forbidden. Efforts will be made to prevent supply chain finance from becoming a tool for illegal financing of some market entities.