Bank of China has long been known for its trade finance services. While sustaining this competitive advantage，the century-old bank remains innovative. Liu Yunfei，general manager of the Global Trade Services Department at Bank of China，discusses trends in the trade finance sector in an exclusive interview with China Forex. She suggests that in order to achieve steady growth in trade finance，banks need to stick to the key principle of serving the real economy and take the lead in the transformation and upgrading of the domestic economy. Following are excerpts from that interview.

China Forex: Trade finance，a sector in which Bank of China has had a strong track record，is closely related to serving the real economy. In the current market environment，what is the status of the bank’s trade finance business，and what is the future direction of this business?

Liu: In the trade finance sector，Bank of China has actively implemented national strategies with a focus on serving the real economy. It has made significant strides in developing its business while controlling risk. In 2017，the non-interest income from trade finance increased considerably and the bank was ranked first nationally in terms of its share of international trade and payments as well as cross-border renminbi transactions. Trade financing in renminbi and foreign currencies climbed steadily and the bank made good progress in expanding its free trade zone business and commodity financing business.

The bank showed good results as a main channel for China's foreign trade and renminbi cross-border flows. In 2017，BOC group's transaction volume in international trade reached US$3.95 trillion. The bank's domestic institutions retained the largest market share in international trade services with a transaction volume of US$1.29 trillion. Additionally， BOC group's transaction volume in cross-border renminbi payments reached 3.83 trillion yuan in 2017，maintaining the group’s leading market share.