Top Biz News

Bank of East Asia to expand in China

(Bloomberg)
Updated: 2007-02-13 16:28

Foreign banks have set up 195 branches in China, Wang Zhaoxing, assistant chairman of theChina Banking Regulatory Commission, said in December. Their combined China assets topped $100 billion, about 2 percent of the total, he said.

Hang Seng Bank, one of the banks that won a permit, plans to invest 1 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $128 million, in China by the end of 2008, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported Dec. 12, citing the bank's vice chairman, Raymond Or.

The London-based HSBC, which has the biggest distribution network among overseas banks in China, said last May it would add about 1,000 employees there. HSBC, founded in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865, has 33 outlets in China.

Last week, Li said mainland China may account for up to 30 percent of Bank of East Asia's profit in five years, about double the 2006 ratio. Lending to mainland customers jumped 77 percent last year, 10 times faster than at its Hong Kong operations.