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China’s Ant Group gets green loan from Spain’s BBVA for ESG projects as Chinese fintech giant pivots to tech market

  • The Alibaba affiliate says it has received a sustainable working capital loan facility from BBVA to support projects in China and abroad
  • The Hangzhou-based firm has been doubling down on sustainability projects and accelerating its transformation from a financial business to a tech company

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An Ant Group booth at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China, on September 2. Photo: Bloomberg
Ann Caoin Shanghai
Chinese financial technology giant Ant Group has secured a green loan from Spanish lender Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), after obtaining its first such loan from a French bank earlier this year, as the company ratchets up environmental, social and governance (ESG) projects.
Ant, which was spun off from Alibaba Group Holding in 2011, has received a sustainable working capital loan facility from BBVA to partially fund its investment in green and social good initiatives, according to a joint press release by Ant and BBVA on Thursday.

Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.

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What is China doing about climate change?

What is China doing about climate change?

While Ant did not disclose the loan amount and the specific projects it would be spent on, the money is said to be used “in its entirety” to support Ant’s “tangible and impactful” sustainability projects in China and abroad.

BBVA, the second-largest Spanish financial institution by volume of assets, will oversee the use of the loan proceeds and benchmark it against the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, Ant said.

“We are proud to partner with leading financial institutions such as BBVA and explore innovative financing solutions to advance our green and social good initiatives,” said Cao Liang, group treasurer at Ant.

“Green financing will play an important role in accelerating sustainable growth for the technology sector.”

The move comes four months after Ant announced it had received a sustainability-linked revolving credit line with Paris-headquartered BNP Paribas, the first of its kind in China’s technology sector.

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