China's largest bank boosts Sino-LatAm cooperation

BUENOS AIRES -- Two years after opening up in Buenos Aires, the headquarters of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) Argentina has become an iconic building in the city.

Its symbols are also obvious in big department stores, on ATMs on main streets and in over 100 branches around the South American country.

In November 2012, ICBC, China's largest commercial bank by assets, purchased an 80-percent stake in Standard Bank Argentina, in the first merger of a Chinese bank and a Latin American financial institution.

"Acquisition is an efficient way to convert financial superiority and management expertise into market advantages. But the ability to attract and retain clients is the precondition. We have to learn, to explore during the process," Tian Fenglin, the vice president of ICBC Argentina told Xinhua.

Two years after the acquisition, the bank has adapted to local culture and business environment, and is leading the business in Argentina in several fields such as auto loans, asset custody and forward forex transaction.

ICBC's growth in Argentina is a microcosm of the expanded cooperation between China and Latin America from trade to investment and finance, as trade between the two sides increased over 20 times during the past 15 years.

ICBC also entered other major Latin American economies, such as China's free trade partner Peru in 2012, Latin America's biggest economy Brazil in 2013, and the second largest economy Mexico in 2014, bringing Chinese finance to the local markets.

Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico are important steps for ICBC's globalization, said Jiang Jianqing, president of ICBC, noting that the fast growing economic cooperation between China and Latin American countries brings huge demand of financial service.

For example, in Argentina, ICBC has agreed to provide $10 billion of loans to Chinese firms' projects in the country, ranging from energy and electricity to transportation and telecommunication.

Over 90 percent of the Chinese companies are clients of ICBC Argentina.

"We entered the market through acquisition, and then we coordinate the domestic and overseas financial resources to support the cooperation between the two nations, especially the strategic joint projects," Tian said.

In addition to the rapid growing business, ICBC Argentina shoulders its social responsibility by sponsoring soccer matches, holding concerts, donating to educational institutions and participating in charity events.

Its success has also promoted the image of Chinese companies in the continent.

Since 2005, China has provided more than $119 billion in loan commitments to Latin American countries and firms, according to the latest report released by a Washington-based think tank.

Among the enormous sum, $45.7 billion went to Argentina, Brazil, Peru and Mexico, the report said.

China and Latin America's cooperation stepped into a new phase after the China-CELAC (the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) forum's ministerial meeting was held in Beijing in January.

It defined the key areas and specific measures for the overall cooperation between the two sides from 2015 to 2019.

According to the plans, China will invest at least $250 billion and the two sides will strive to achieve a trade volume of $500 billion within a decade, which requires the banking system to work more efficiently to facilitate bilateral cooperation.