The recent 2025 Lujiazui Forum has signaled a new phase of high-level opening-up policies, reinforcing Shanghai’s role as a global financial hub and creating fresh opportunities for financial innovation and corporate financing. In this context, a seminar titled “Innovative Models and Frontier Exploration of Supply Chain Finance (SCF) for Chinese Private SMEs Based on Banking Resource Endowment” was held at Fudan University.

Experts at the seminar noted that China’s private SME supply chain finance—driven by the banking sector, targeted at SMEs, and supported by technological breakthroughs—is evolving rapidly. This model provides a unique dimension for “Chinese-style modern finance” and offers a compelling case study for the global financial industry.

Key participants included Professor Chen Xiangfeng, Director of the International Supply Chain Finance Research Center at Fudan University; Professor Peter Shi, Professor of Supply Chain Management at Macquarie University (Australia) and Chair of CILT-A NSW; Pu Yun, CTO of Agree Tech; and Cai Junjie, Managing Partner of Consulting Services.

The Evolution of Supply Chain Finance Professor Chen Xiangfeng noted that since the 1960s, Chinese enterprise development has evolved through three stages: “Manufacturing is King,” “Channel is King,” and “Cash is King.” Since 2020, we have entered the era of “Data is King.” “In the ‘Manufacturing’ era (1960s-80s), firms focused on internal material flows. By the 90s, the ‘Channel’ era shifted focus to services and upstream-downstream coordination, marking the birth of supply chain management,” Chen explained. Catalyzed by the 2008 crisis, competition evolved toward timeliness and sustainability. From 2010 to 2020, the “Cash is King” era emerged, where managing the “third flow”—cash flow—became the priority, officially launching the SCF era.

In the current “Data is King” era, multi-dimensional flows and functions are expanding the potential of supply chains. Unlike traditional management focused solely on cost, modern SCF prioritizes stability, security, value, and ESG (green) practices, aligning with “High-Quality Development.”

Serving SMEs through Technological Innovation Digital transformation in SCF is a mission to return finance to its roots: serving the real economy. Recently, central authorities have emphasized solving the “financing difficulties and high costs” for private SMEs. On February 6, the People’s Bank of China drafted guidelines to empower SME financing through “Data Credit” and “Asset-based Credit.”

Against this backdrop, a multinational research team led by Professor Peter Shi and Dr. Hadwyn Chen (Mingxi), in collaboration with Agree Tech, developed an innovative SCF model tailored for Chinese private SMEs. Leveraging Agree Tech’s “Cloud Counter” technology, the team aims to resolve structural financing bottlenecks and foster “Industry-University-Research” integration.

Dr. Mingxi, Agree Tech’s International Research Lead, presented these results at the 51st International Conference on Computers & Industrial Engineering (CIE51), where the study won the Best Presentation Award. The research elevates independent banking innovations into the “Aerial Banking” theoretical paradigm—a complete academic framework spanning core technical architecture and implementation systems.

Deep Integration: The “Four Chains” Fusion Professor Chen argues that SCF possesses two core attributes: Finance and Supply Chain Management. While finance facilitates value, it does not create it—management does. SCF can transform industries into a digital service matrix covering the full business cycle.

“SCF requires two capabilities: the integration of physical and digital economies, and the ability to move from virtual to real (Industry-Finance Integration),” Chen stated. This leads to the fusion of four chains: the Product Standard Chain, Data Chain, Supply Chain, and Industrial Chain.

Agree Tech’s “Aerial Banking” concept sparked intense discussion. Cai Junjie proposed a philosophy of “Industries without Boundaries, Channels without Limits.” He argued that future financial services will aggregate into a “Super Interface”—a boundless evolution of the traditional bank branch that integrates value transmission and inclusive accessibility.

As a tech enabler, Agree Tech helps banks build the “UX³ Excellent Experience” framework. By achieving “penetrative cognition” through the atomic-level fusion of “Technology × Finance,” banks can practice the concept of “Technology Empowerment, Boundaryless Integration.”

Pu Yun, CTO of Agree Tech, highlighted the use of AI and Big Data to build a dynamic, digital-intelligent system. This “Data × Intelligence” dual engine helps financial institutions resolve the contradiction between standardized risk control and the non-standardized needs of SMEs.

A Global Vision for the Future Professor Peter Shi concluded that Chinese SCF is undergoing a historic paradigm shift. Led by “dual-element” tech firms like Agree Tech—which combine applied and transformative technologies—this transformation will reshape global supply chain spatial patterns.

By transitioning from a linear service model to an ecological network model, China is establishing international technical standards and “new infrastructure” for the digital age. This leap from “following” to “leading” provides a strategic pivot for China’s “Dual Circulation” development pattern, empowering Chinese enterprises to navigate the global landscape with indigenous technological strength.