360buy inks supply chain financing pledge with BOC

Chinese online B2C retailer 360buy.com may have a hard time competiting with its archrival Alibaba Group, despite its recent launch of a supply chain financing service platform together with the Beijing branch of the Bank of China (BOC), an expert told the Global Times Wednesday.

The cooperation with the bank enables 360buy.com to financially support its more than 10,000 suppliers, whose cash flow will be accelerated, Zhao Guo­qing, chief strategy officer of 360buy.com, said at an agreement signing ceremony Tuesday in Beijing, which was attended by BOC leaders and over 500 suppliers.

On its own, the e-commerce company has financed $1.5 billion in total, and it has now raised additional credit worth more than 5 billion yuan ($802 million) from domestic banking facilities like BOC.

The company has already created an online platform for the service, which provides various financing solutions for suppliers including accounts receivable funding, purchase order financing and trust financing, 360buy.com told the Global Times Wednesday via e-mail.

The company said the move would make its suppliers' capital operations four times more efficient.

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