BOC expands facilities in Xinjiang for Belt and Road opportunities

BOC launched forward-rate quotations for the renminbi against the Russian rouble and Kazakhstani tenge, for instance, on June 29.

Its Horgos sub-branch handled forward settlement of the renminbi against 5.4 million tenge ($20,000) and its Alataw Pass sub-branch in northwestern Xinjiang handled forward purchases of the renminbi against 8.81 million roubles ($133,000) on that day.

The bank started providing cash-on-demand quotations for the renminbi against the Pakistani rupee on Sept 16 and will provide forward rate quotations between the two currencies later.

Cross-border rules to be stepped up

China is expanding and deepening cooperation on cross-border banking regulations with countries along the route of the Belt and Road Initiative.

By the end of June, the China Banking Regulatory Commission had signed memorandums of understanding with its counterparts in 27 countries along the Silk Rod Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.

Under the framework of an MOU, the banking regulators will exchange information on a regular basis to prevent potential risks more effectively and reduce the local impact of certain institutional and project risks. The MOUs will also help Chinese banking institutions get approval more easily for setting up branches in other countries along the Belt and Road, and vice versa, said Fan Wenzhong, director of the CBRC's international department, on Monday.

"Next, the CBRC will accelerate the signing of MOUs with regulators along the Belt and Road, build an effective bilateral cooperation mechanism on banking regulation, expand the scope of information sharing, and improve the system to handle cross-border risks and crisis," Fan said.

"We will also strengthen daily communication on cross-border regulation and help Chinese banking institutions overcome the policy hurdles they encounter while doing business in these countries," he said.

As of June 30 this year, 11 Chinese banks had established 55 branches and representative offices in 23 countries along the Belt and Road route. Compared with Southeast Asia and West Asia where the branches are mainly clustered, there is still a huge room for Chinese banks to expand their footprint in Central Asia and other nearby countries.