On 6 December 2022, the Faculty of Finance of the City University of Macau held the Finance Seminar Series [14] at the Stanley Ho Building. Mr Linchun Fan, Deputy Manager of Yuet Tung Shipping, was invited to deliver a speech titled “Introduction to the Financial System in Mainland China and Shipping and Financial Leasing in Macao”. Guests attending this seminar include Dean Adrian Cheung, and Associate Dean Eva Khong of Faculty of Finance, City University of Macau.
Mr Fan has been engaged in foreign exchange management and cross-border RMB settlement management in Guangzhou Branch of the People's Bank of China, and served as Deputy Director of the Current Account Management Office, Deputy Director of the Asset Project Management Office and Director of the Cross-border RMB Settlement Pilot Working Group Office. At the end of 2014, he transferred from the government department to a state-owned enterprise in Guangdong Province, and successively served as Deputy General Manager of Chu Kong Shipping Enterprises (Holding) Co. Ltd., and Deputy General Manager of Yuet Tung Shipping. From 2016 to 2018, he also served as Director of Guangdong Yueke Shipping Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. In 2014, he was awarded the "2014 May Day Labor Medal of China People's Bank " by the Head office of the People's Bank of China.
To begin with, Mr Fan introduced the financial system of the mainland, including China's financial system, China's financial regulatory agencies, deposit reserve system, RMB interest rate pricing mechanism, RMB exchange rate system, financial markets, third-party payment and settlement system and foreign exchange management system.
Mr Fan explained the origin of the 85 square kilometers of sea area managed by the Macao Special Administrative Region. Mr Chak Wan Liu, member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region, proposed that if Macao had its own jurisdiction, it could achieve the division of function areas through reclamation, solve the geospatial problem of building Macao into "one center, one platform", and develop marine science and technology, marine tourism, marine culture and other industries, so as to achieve a moderately diversified development of Macao. The proposal has been highly valued by the Handling Proposals Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council and other departments. According to the “Map of the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (Draft)” adopted in 2015, the sea area under the administration of the Macao Special Administrative Region are demarcated from the east and south directions of the land of Macao, covering an area of 85 square kilometers.
Mr Fan introduced the shipping resources of Macao Special Administrative Region. The waters around Macao are the water transportation arteries for ships from Hong Kong and Macao to and from the Xijiang River Basin. There are many shoals and bridges in the waters, and the navigable waters are small and the channel is narrow. Ship navigation is intensive, traffic flow is large. There are many types of navigable ships, crisscross routes, and numerous fishing boats. The navigable environment is extremely complex. In recent years, with the construction of Macao reclamation project and the comprehensive development of Hengqin New Area, a large number of construction vessels have flooded into this water area. According to statistics, before the outbreak of the pandemic, the daily flow of high-speed passenger ships from Hong Kong and Macao in these waters reached more than 400 times, and the average daily flow of ships sailing through Macao waterway and Maliuzhou Waterway reached 450 times. Macao currently has four ports, namely the Outer Harbour Ferry Terminal, Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal, Taipa Ferry Terminal and Ka Ho Port.
Then, Mr Fan introduced Yuet Tung Shipping. The business scope of Yuet Tung Shipping includes the operation and management of cruises, and yachts and ships, terminal operation management and maintenance, dock handling and storage, passenger transport, freight and marine transport, passenger and freight forwarder, clean watercourses and aquatic environment, navigation mark maintenance and management, and all kinds of marine engineering and marine dredging. Yuet Tung Shipping is mainly engaged in Guangdong-Macao and Hong Kong-Macao routes, and operates Taipa Ferry Terminal to Shenzhen Shekou Route/Shenzhen Fuyong Airport route/Dongguan Humen Route/Zhuhai Jiuzhou Port route/Hong Kong route, and Inner Harbour Ferry Terminal to Zhuhai Wanchai route. It serves nearly 10 million passengers every year in peak hours, making it the largest operator of Guangdong-Macao water passenger route in Macao.
Lastly, Mr Fan introduced the current situation of Macao’s financial leasing industry to the students. The financial leasing market in Macao started a little late. With the release of supporting policies such as the Legal System of Financial Leasing Companies and the Preferential Tax System of Financial Leasing, the financial leasing industry is developing steadily. Major legislative measures include modifying the definition of financial leasing companies, clarifying the scope of business, emphasizing specialization, clarifying the establishment license and reducing the registered capital limit of companies. Mr Fan also mentioned that the advantages of financial leasing are simple procedure, flexible lease, cost saving and independent accounting.
At the end of the sharing session, the students took this valuable opportunity to actively pose questions related to shipping and financial leasing, and Mr Fan answered in detail. In the Seminar, students paid attention to the knowledge of shipping resources in Macao, and learned a lot through the financial seminar series. The students also expressed their expectations for the finance seminars in the coming semester.