How times have changed. Not so long ago awash with liquidity, many mainland China’s companies now find themselves operating in a very different environment in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Flanked by liquidity-strapped suppliers on the one side and customers on the other, the upshot has been greater demand for supply chain finance as liquidity conditions bite. In particular, trade finance banks report significant uptake in cross-border supplier finance and cross-border receivables finance solutions.
“With the renminbi appreciating, and given widespread expectations that it will further appreciate, and with the government and central bank tightening onshore lending, the cost of funds is increasing in dollars,” said Ravi Saxena,...