China's Banking giant expands services to London
( 2003-09-25 16:21) (Xinhua)
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has taken a major step forward in its overseas strategy with the opening of a new banking subsidiary in London.
According to a spokesman for the bank, the ICBC (London) Co. Ltd., which went operation officially on Wednesday, will provide services for Chinese enterprises and individuals in the city and facilitate investment by British businesses in China.
A representative office of the ICBC, a major state-owned commercial bank in China, was inaugurated in London as early as November, 1995.
Annual Sino-British trade volume surpassed ten billion US dollars in recent years, making Britain the largest European investor in China.
The ICBC spokesman said that multi-national management has been one of the bank's key strategies over the past few years and London, an international financial center, will become a hub for economic and financial exchanges between China and Britain.
The ICBC has, so far, established more than 1,000 overseas agents with foreign currency assets totaling over 50 billion US dollars.
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