A newly built Airbus 320aircraft took off from its factory in Toulouse, France, on July 3 bound for Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal-the first airplane of the fledgling Himalaya Airlines.

The occasion was significant not only for the startup carrier but also for ICBC Financial Leasing Co Ltd, a specialist leasing operation based in the China (Tianjin) Pilot Free Trade Zone, because the deal was its first involving two overseas customers.

"The Chinese market alone cannot support the company's development ambitions and offshore leasing deals like this one will become increasingly important for us," said Lin Feng, managing director of aviation financing at ICBC Leasing.

Himalaya Airlines plans to eventually operate 15 A320s, to become Nepal's largest carrier within the next five years, and is already negotiating with ICBC on leasing several other aircraft, Lin said.
A subsidiary of China's largest commercial bank Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, the leasing arm-the first of its type when it was launched in 2007 - has the government's key "going global" economic initiative at its core.

Cong Lin, its CEO, expects it to rank among the world's top five aviation-leasing companies. It is already in the global top 10, in terms of airplane fleet size.

Like many business sectors, Lin also said the government's Belt and Road Initiative offers ICBC Leasing huge potential in countries and regions along the two ancient Silk Road trading routes.