SPD Bank Hangzhou Branch continues to make efforts in five major sectors, helping the economic powerhouse take on a leading role.

On March 28, 1994, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch took root by West Lake, becoming the first joint-stock commercial bank to establish a presence in Zhejiang and the first branch of Pudong Development Bank outside of Shanghai. At that time, there was only one outlet with just a few dozen employees. Today, 32 years later, this branch has opened 92 business outlets across Zhejiang Province, with its service network extending from Hangzhou to the entire province, making it one of the deepest-rooted joint-stock banks in Zhejiang.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch. All images in this article are provided by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch.

Zhejiang is a major province for private economy, open economy, and scientific innovation. By 2025, the province’s GDP is expected to exceed 9.4 trillion yuan, continuing to bear the responsibility of being a “major economic province.”

During the process of economic transformation and leap, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch has always resonated with Zhejiang’s high-quality development, assisting in “shouldering the burden of a major economic province.” In recent years, this branch has closely followed the “five key areas” proposed by the Central Financial Work Conference, leveraging the headquarters’ “digital intelligence” strategy to continuously make efforts in five key areas: fintech, supply chain finance, inclusive finance, cross-border finance, and financial asset management, using financial “vitality” to nourish the land of Zhejiang.

Fintech: From “looking at bricks” to “looking at technology”

In Hangzhou Future Sci-tech City, Jiachang Xihai (Hangzhou) Biotechnology is an innovative pharmaceutical company founded in 2019, with several globally leading drug development pipelines. However, the long R&D cycle and high investment create constant financial pressure.

“The R&D cycle for innovative drugs often starts at ten years. Traditionally, banks focus on historical statements and collateral, making it difficult for light asset companies like us to receive support,” said a representative from Jiachang Xihai.

The fintech team from Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch learned about the company’s needs during their visits. They did not simply apply traditional risk control models but instead conducted an in-depth analysis of the company’s core technology, R&D pipeline, and team background, quickly approving a comprehensive credit of 60 million yuan, of which the “Puyandai” loan accounted for 20 million yuan.

“Puyandai” is a special loan product launched by Shanghai Pudong Development Bank specifically to support innovative R&D of technology-based SMEs, aiming to address the financing pain points faced by tech companies during their R&D stages, such as “light assets, high investment, long cycles, and difficulties in collateral.”

This is a microcosm of the fintech concept transformation at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch. In the journey of developing new productive forces in Zhejiang, the branch actively responds to the national innovation-driven development strategy, establishing fintech as a strategic main track for the entire bank. In their internal terminology, they say it is a shift “from looking at history and bricks to looking at the future and technology.” It is reported that in the nearly past year since launching “Puyandai,” the branch has granted credit to over a hundred companies, covering a range from mature profitable enterprises to early-stage tech startups that are not yet profitable or even without revenue.

To build a truly technology-savvy and service-oriented professional system, in 2024, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch established a first-level fintech department and has currently founded 28 specialized (characteristic) branches. They have each formed dedicated approval teams and implemented a “parallel due diligence” mechanism, with loan officers intervening in the technical assessment phase in advance. In July 2025, the “Three-Year Action Plan for Establishing a Characteristic Fintech Branch at Hangzhou Branch” was released and implemented, using the “three special” strategy of “dedicated assessment, dedicated resources, and professional teams” to build a service system covering the entire lifecycle of sci-tech enterprises.

On the product side, the “Pukex” series of loans has evolved to the 2.0 version of the “5+7+X” full lifecycle financial product system: “Puchuangdai” accompanies seed-stage enterprises through their growth, “Puxindai” provides blood supply for early-stage companies, “Putoudai” connects equity financing, “Puyandai” supports R&D breakthroughs, and “Pukex M&A Loan” assists in expansion during the maturity phase.

By adhering to the principle of “serving innovation and creating value,” Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch actively connects with sci-tech enterprise resources in the Yangtze River Delta, conducts brand salon activities such as “Tech Salon” and “Connecting Technology·Partner Bank,” and creates an integrated service model of “Commercial Bank + Investment Bank + Ecosystem” combining equity, debt, loans, insurance, leasing, incubation, matchmaking, and collaboration, achieving the goal of providing comprehensive, one-stop financial services for tech companies, aiming to become the preferred partner bank for tech enterprises.

The digital intelligence platform has given wings to fintech. With the headquarters’ “Sperm Whale” digital customer acquisition platform, “Enterprise Radar” technology model, and “Fund Radar” investment and financing docking tool, the branch has assisted over 1,500 tech enterprises and successfully granted credit to over 800.

The branch is also trying to transform into a co-builder of the financial ecosystem. Earlier this year, the branch cooperated with Guanchai Community to launch the “Puerchai” co-branded card, becoming a strategic partner of the AI Hackathon. In the future, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch will integrate resources and upgrade services based on its differentiated credit capabilities, transitioning from a “provider of funds” to an “ecosystem co-builder.”

By the end of 2025, the balance of fintech loans at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch is expected to exceed 100 billion yuan, serving over 14,000 tech enterprises, with over 2,000 technology clients. Among joint-stock banks, the bank ranks second in the regulatory evaluation of fintech.

Supply Chain Finance: Letting Funds Flow Along the Industrial Chain

Zhejiang is a major province for manufacturing, with long industrial chains and numerous upstream and downstream enterprises. Behind a core enterprise often stand hundreds of small and micro suppliers. These companies are usually small in scale with little collateral, resulting in long-standing issues of financing difficulties and high costs.

Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch’s solution is to let funds flow along the industrial chain.

In 2025, the branch implemented the first “Putiantong” business for a large domestic telecommunications operator within the system. This product utilizes big data, blockchain, and other technologies, based on a credit limit sharing mechanism from core enterprises to provide fully online electronic commercial acceptance bill discount financing to multi-level suppliers across the country. Upstream suppliers no longer need to worry about financing limits and can quickly obtain funds using commercial acceptance bills.

“Previously, waiting for a loan to be returned often required tying up a lot of working capital. With ‘Putiantong,’ it only takes a few minutes from application to disbursement, with funds arriving almost instantly,” said the financial manager of a tech company providing support services to the telecommunications operator in Hangzhou.

According to estimates, this model shortens the financing cycle by over 90% compared to traditional methods and reduces comprehensive financing costs by over 20%.

Financial services flowing along the industrial chain are precise and comprehensive. Based on Shanghai Pudong Development Bank’s “Puchaintong” smart supply chain “1+1+X” service system, the Hangzhou branch clearly identifies strategic customers of the headquarters, customers from the “415X” advanced manufacturing clusters designated by the Zhejiang provincial government, and leading customers in segmented industries with regional characteristics and development potential. It provides external data sources such as the State Grid and supply chain platforms to analyze customer profiles, industrial structures, and settlement characteristics, bringing financial services to both upstream and downstream of the industrial chain.

By the end of 2025, the branch had served over 2,000 upstream and downstream enterprises in the supply chain, issuing over 60 billion yuan in online supply chain financing, of which 90% of the upstream and downstream customers are private small and micro enterprises. Currently, the branch is expanding this model to strategic emerging industries such as intelligent manufacturing and new energy.

Inclusive Finance: Not Bound by Traditional Models

Inclusive finance is an important area for Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch to serve the real economy and fulfill social responsibility. In product innovation, the branch has built a “4+N+X” inclusive finance product system, with four standardized products: “Huizhidai,” “Huishandai,” “Huijindai,” and “Huibao,” providing customized financial service solutions based on different scenarios and needs.

In Changwu Town, Anji County, Huzhou City, Zhou Han, the head of Shiyu Fan Factory, can finally sleep soundly.

The bamboo fan-making technique in Zhangwu is a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage of Zhejiang, requiring 108 manual processes for a single fan, which is time-consuming and capital-intensive. In 2024, a surge in orders put this family workshop under financial pressure. “I’ve borrowed from all my relatives and friends, and the pressure is immense; I can only consider a loan,” Zhou said.

Upon learning of this, the Huzhou Anji Branch of the Hangzhou Branch completed credit approval within a week, granting a personal business loan of 600,000 yuan with a favorable interest rate. After the funding was in place, the factory successfully procured raw materials, fulfilled large orders, and even added a live streaming room—from one to three—doubling revenue. “Financial support has allowed us to turn traditional craftsmanship into an industry; this year has been a year of explosive growth,” Zhou said.

Supporting the inheritance of intangible cultural heritage is just one slice of inclusive finance; the inclusive practices of Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch are not confined to traditional models. Everything starts from reality.

In Zhoushan, the provincial key project “Sky City on the Starry Sea” is accelerating construction. This is a comprehensive resort that combines hotels, amusement parks, and scenic spots, requiring substantial funding. The Zhoushan Branch under the Hangzhou Branch did not apply traditional models—only accounting for accommodation and catering revenues—but re-evaluated from the overall revenue perspective of the cultural tourism complex, successfully landing the first syndicated loan for a cultural tourism project in the jurisdiction.

During the project advancement, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch established a three-level working group mechanism within Zhejiang Province, enhancing cooperation with local regulatory agencies and development and reform departments, comprehensively surveying the demand information of small and micro enterprise clients to ensure precise matching. At the same time, it cleverly applied online service platforms and mobile applications to allow small and micro enterprises and individual businesses to obtain credit resources anytime and anywhere.

Project image of “Sky City on the Starry Sea”

It is reported that in the future, Hangzhou Branch will continuously focus on solidifying inclusive finance, bringing real inclusive finance policies to the rural areas that need them, benefiting more real economy business owners and small individual businesses; practicing the original mission of “finance for the people,” increasing support for rural revitalization, green economy, and other fields, and promoting the deep integration of inclusive finance with rural revitalization and green development.

Cross-Border Finance: Reducing Footwork for Enterprises Going Overseas

Zhejiang is an open province, with foreign trade and foreign investment being important engines for economic development. Focusing on eight hot scenarios—free trade finance, cross-border e-commerce, cross-border hedging, cross-border funds management, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, cross-border trade, cross-border asset custody, and cross-border renminbi—Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch has launched a “6+X” cross-border finance service system, providing comprehensive financial services that link onshore and offshore, integrating investment and commercial banking to meet the all-dimensional, personalized cross-border financial needs of enterprises, forming a cross-border service eco-circle and creating the “Puying Cross-Border” golden business card.

Keeping pace with foreign exchange business reform, Hangzhou Branch uses digital means to enhance the quality and efficiency of cross-border financial services.

A certain daily necessities company in Hangzhou primarily sells textile daily necessities, with products exported to Europe, America, and Southeast Asia, generating numerous cross-border payment needs each month. “Now, to process cross-border payments, I just need to submit electronic instructions through online banking, and the funds arrive instantly; I no longer need to prepare contracts and invoices for each transaction,” said the financial staff of the company.

After being recognized as a category one client, Hangzhou Branch opened the “Cross-Border Rapid Transfer” service for them, achieving 7×24 hours “instant” payment, with business processing efficiency improving by over 80% and significantly enhancing fund turnover efficiency.

This convenient experience stems from foreign exchange business reform. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has built a full-process business framework of “pre-business customer profile identification, mid-business differentiated review, and post-business monitoring and analysis,” allowing high-quality clients to handle most cross-border payment and receipt businesses directly with instructions. In 2025, Hangzhou Branch will launch reforms across the jurisdiction and support online products like “Cross-Border Rapid Transfer.”

In terms of service innovation, Hangzhou Branch has taken the lead in implementing the cross-border finance service platform “New Offshore International Trade Business Background Verification” application scenario. By integrating data from overseas customs, transportation, ports, and other sources, it realizes “one-stop” trade background verification. The Wenzhou branch within the jurisdiction successfully landed the first business on the day after the pilot, greatly improving offshore trade review efficiency while ensuring that cross-border financial business risks are controllable, effectively helping enterprises cope with exchange rate fluctuations and other risks.

Recently, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch unveiled the “E Road Transfer·Huyue Cross-Border Finance Studio” in Yiwu City, known as the “world supermarket.” This is a vivid attempt by the branch to implement the headquarters’ cross-border strategic deployment, empowering the development of the cross-border finance track through operating brand studio construction. This studio deeply integrates Yiwu’s “buy global, sell global” industrial advantages and the business scale of over 1 billion USD in market procurement trade annual settlement, focusing on the positioning of “one-stop cross-border services” to provide service empowerment through specialization, digital intelligence, and distinctiveness, guiding Yiwu’s international business merchants to set sail. By constructing a three-dimensional system of “expert team + brand service + digital ecological,” it provides cross-border settlement, exchange rate hedging, trade financing, and other full-cycle solutions for foreign trade enterprises.

At present, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch has formed a service system covering various scenarios such as cross-border e-commerce, market procurement, and overseas talent compensation through the establishment of a “front, middle, and back office” collaborative mechanism, aiming to make the “E Road Transfer·Huyue Cross-Border Finance Studio” a new business card for Yiwu’s foreign trade development.

Financial Asset Management: Making Retirement a “Enjoyable Age”

As an important track for enhancing comprehensive operational capabilities, financial asset management at Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch aims to improve financial management efficiency through digital means, providing clients with comprehensive financial asset management services. Focusing on key business client groups, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank has jointly launched the “Health and Wellness Core Space” with Pacific Life, the first one located in Hangzhou, equipped with smart devices for intelligent consultation and health monitoring, creating a new benchmark for health and retirement finance.

With the acceleration of population aging, retirement finance has become a public concern. Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch actively creates the “Puyijinsheng” service brand, constructing a “12345” comprehensive retirement finance service system. In 2025, the branch collaborated with Taibao Life Insurance to customize a characteristic journey of “retirement planning + health management.” At the event, three interactive areas—“Health and Wellness Station,” “Traditional Chinese Medicine Consultation,” and “Aging Simulation Experience”—attracted many young and middle-aged clients. An 80s client remarked after trying on the aging simulation device, “I used to think retirement was far away; after today’s experience, I understand the importance of scientific planning.”

For the elderly preparation group, the branch has launched a “1+5” one-stop retirement planning service: one lecture, one account, one ledger, one plan, one online special area, and one offline consultant. In terms of hardware, they have taken the lead in establishing two demonstration retirement finance studios, implementing the “six commitments” of love services, advancing the age-friendly transformation of outlets, and equipping intelligent health monitoring devices.

In March 2026, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch served as the co-lead underwriter for Zhejiang Province’s first retirement industry bond of 300 million yuan, supporting the Yingte Group’s layout of the “pharmaceutical health + retirement service” ecosystem. This fund is specifically used for the procurement of medications for common elderly diseases, with an interest rate of only 1.63%.

After thirty-two years of spring and autumn, and thirty-two years of hard work, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank Hangzhou Branch has written a history of co-prosperity between finance and local economy over the past 32 years. Standing at the new starting point of the “14th Five-Year Plan,” the bank will continue to drive forward with its “digital intelligence” strategy, deeply cultivating five major financial tracks—injecting financial momentum into Zhejiang’s “shouldering the burden of a major economic province.” (News)

Lu Mei