Having grown to become one of the world’s largest ship financiers in just a few years, ICBC Leasing (ICBCL) is looking to enter a new area: autonomous shipping.

With the industry experiencing more digitalisation initiatives and tightening environmental rules, China’s largest leasing house is refining its financial model to adjust to the new realities.

Bill Guo (Guo Fangmeng), executive director of shipping finance at the state-owned lessor, told TradeWinds during Nor-Shipping: “We would be willing to provide extra incentives to autonomous shipping projects, such as higher loan ratios.”