Rizhao Leverages Financial Transformation To Drive The Paper Industry

Rizhao pulp and paper integrated industrial cluster has been selected into the list of "Top Ten Industries" goose formation industrial clusters in Shandong Province in 2025, and is also one of the twelve key industrial chains in Rizhao City. With the deepening of the national "dual carbon" strategy, the transformation of the paper industry to low-carbon has become the core direction of industry development. As an important part of the green financial system, transition finance focuses on the demand for low-carbon transition funds in high-emission fields and provides key financial support for the country's green, low-carbon and high-quality development.

In September 2025, with the support and guidance of the Shandong Branch of the People's Bank of China, the Rizhao Branch of the People's Bank of China took the lead in formulating and promulgating the first local standard for transition finance in the paper industry in Shandong Province - the "Implementation Guidelines for Transition Finance in the Paper Industry in Rizhao City" around the core goal of financial empowerment of the low-carbon transformation of the pulp and paper industry, and continued to promote the application of this standard to provide standardized financial service support for the transformation of the industry.

Asia Pacific Symbo (Shandong) Pulp & Paper Co., Ltd. is not only a leading enterprise in Rizhao's pulp and paper integrated industrial cluster, but also the world's leading vertical integration investment enterprise of pulp and paper fiber, and also a leading commercial wood pulp manufacturer in China. The Rizhao Branch of the People's Bank of China guided Rizhao Bank to innovatively adopt the model of "dynamic linkage between certificate issuance fees and emission reduction performance" based on the results of the identification of enterprise transformation entities, issued an international letter of credit of 120 million yuan for the enterprise, and specially supported the enterprise to carry out transformation practice projects such as energy conservation and carbon reduction technology transformation and wastewater waste heat recycling.

Rizhao Xiaolongtai Paper Co., Ltd. has increased investment through technological transformation, continuously promoted the diversified layout of products, and helped enterprises achieve transformation and upgrading, and currently has an annual production capacity of 200,000 tons of packaging paper and 10,000 tons of special paper. In order to promote the coordinated transformation of the industrial chain, the Rizhao Branch of the People's Bank of China guided Rizhao Bank to integrate transformation financial services into the enterprise supply chain system, and issued 5 million yuan of supply chain financing "orange credit" to Xiaolongtai Paper's upstream customers. At the same time, it is agreed that if Xiaolongtai Paper achieves the set carbon emission reduction performance target, its upstream customers can enjoy preferential interest rates, and through this incentive mechanism, core enterprises will be promoted to drive the entire supply chain to achieve low-carbon transformation.