(17 June 2025 – China) The US-China trade war has unexpectedly triggered a shipping rush pushing up demand for financial services, Zhang Kangqi reports for Lianhe Zaobao.
As companies scramble to ship goods ahead of customs deadlines, banks are reporting a surge in trade finance demand. Standard Chartered’s trade volume in Singapore increased by nine percent year-on-year, export trade volume increased by ten percent and imports increased by 13 percent. UOB’s trade finance and liquidity solutions also saw an increase of almost ten percent in trading volume in Asian markets.
“China’s cargo volume to Southeast Asian ports has increased and even reached a new high. This can be seen that companies are shipping goods in advance during the tariff grace period, so customers need banks to provide working capital solutions to support the growth of goods import and export” commented Standard Chartered Managing Director, Head of Trade and Working Capital, ASEAN & South Asia, Maisie Chong.
East & Partners latest Asia Corporate Cash & Payments service release, based on direct interviews with Asia’s Top 1,000 revenue-ranked enterprises, found a growing possibility that firms may switch their primary banker in the next six months.
According to East & Partners latest data released in May, 1 in 4 of the Top 100 revenue-ranked companies in each of ten Asian markets including China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia are increasingly likely to switch their main banking relationships (26 percent).
“In the past, large Asian corporations typically switched banks to seek better value and added services, such as more competitive rates, stronger global networks, or enhanced capabilities in debt and capital markets” commented East & Partners Global Head of Markets Analysis, Martin Smith,
“However, in recent years, the focus has shifted. Now, companies are more concerned with reducing risk and diversifying exposure to avoid credit risks. The uncertainty caused by the US-China trade war has driven up the frequency of switching primary bankers over the past three years.”
“During periods of financial crisis, when liquidity dries up, companies actually tend to stick with their existing banks, increasing those banks’ wallet share. But the current situation presents a contrast – finance executives are now actively reassessing and adjusting their banking partnerships.”