Shanghai September 8 (Gasgoo.com) Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) is now establishing an auto financing firm in China with Bank of Jilin Co., Ltd., said Cheng Songbin, Vice President of the bank, in the 6th Changchun High-level International Finance Meeting, The Economic Observer Online reported on Wednesday.
The registered capital of the auto financing firm is 1 billion yuan ($147 million), of which Bank of Jilin contributed 340 million yuan, getting 1/3 stake in the firm.
In addition to SAIC, GM, Ford, VW and other global automakers have all set up their auto financing companies earlier. China's homegrown carmakers have also speeded up the move to the industry, such as Chery Auto, BYD Co and Guangzhou Auto who have already built their own auto financing firms through establishing joint ventures with financial institutions worldwide.
According to data released by the central bank, as of the end of 2008, total loan amount granted by various financial institutions across the country had reached 158.3 billion yuan, starting from 1998 when the People's Bank of China formally approved the auto loan business. The figures hit another record high in 2009.
