Citi: China trade financing a challenge and an opportunity

Singapore

WITH Singapore/Asean growth challenging, capturing China/intra-Asian trade and investment growth is too big an opportunity for banks to ignore, said Citi Research.

Trade finance in Hong Kong and Singapore has surged at over 40 per cent per annum in recent years, well above single-digit growth in physical trade and sparking investor fears that banks ultimately are funding speculative, carry-trades to China's shadow banking system, Citi said in a May 22 report.