ICBC steps up overseas expansion

From a record-breaking initial public offering 10 year ago to a clutch of industry accolades today, the past decade witnessed the greatest and fastest development of the highest quality for Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, according to the bank, the country's largest lender.

With a solid domestic focus, the bank has expanded its global outlook to more than 60 countries and territories. The assets of ICBC overseas institutions amounted to $279.83 billion in 2015.

Since it established its first overseas institution in Singapore in 1992, the bank's foreign agents now cover 95 percent of countries and regions that have business ties with China.

Last month, a new branch of ICBC opened in Queensland, Australia.

"The new ICBC branch will be able to fully support businesses engaged in trade between China and our state," said Curtis Pitt, Queensland's acting premier and treasurer. Along with its expansion of overseas operations, ICBC also provides impetus for renminbi internationalization.

In 2015, the group's crossborder renminbi business totaled 4.41 trillion yuan ($652 billion), up by 20.6 percent year-on-year, hitting a new record high.

The People's Bank of China announced last month that it has authorized ICBC's Moscow office as a renminbi clearing bank in Russia.

The bank's Moscow branch has become the biggest Chinese bank in Russia, according to Xinhua News Agency.

In addition, it was also designated the overseas renminbi clearing bank in Singapore, Luxembourg, Canada, Qatar, Thailand and Argentina.

The two-way renminbi crossborder fund pool has attracted more than 200 contracted customers and its cross-border renminbi settlement total approached 300 billion yuan in 2015.

In the past decade, the compound growth rate of ICBC overseas institutions' assets reached 29.82 percent.

It is also the world's first commercial bank to provide 24-hour, uninterrupted renminbi clearing services.

Besides its international business, ICBC also launched a number of new products for exporters of large integrated equipment and engineering services.

In March 2015, during the Indonesian president's visit to China, ICBC reached multiple agreements, including a 5-billion-yuan agreement, with Indonesia Eximbank.

ICBC has also signed a $5.5 billion financing strategic cooperation agreement with China Railway Corp, with the funds used to build a special railway line for coal in Indonesia.

A $20 billion strategic cooperation agreement with Indonesia's Ministry of State-Owned Enterprises was also reached during that time.

ICBC's Warsaw branch worked closely with Chinese enterprises to participate in projects with a total investment of 10 billion euros ($10.88 billion) in Central and Eastern Europe.

Those projects led to the signing of nine strategic cooperation agreements or financing agreements with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, as well as countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

"There are many demands and growth potentials available in Belt and Road Initiative regions, especially in terms of connectivity and infrastructure," said Yi Huiman, chairman of the board of directors of ICBC.

"ICBC will leverage its strength in internationalized operation to facilitate infrastructure construction, international production capacity cooperation and development in other key sectors," said Yi. "We will also implement initiatives to meet the demands of enterprises for globalized and diversified financial services."

In addition, ICBC's German institutions have been supporting Chinese enterprises to invest in Germany, acting as a mergers and acquisitions financing consultant and loan arranger.

The branches assisted Wuhan Iron and Steel Corp to acquire ThyssenKrupp AG's laser welding business. They also provided euro financing and letters of guarantee for Weichai Holding Group Co Ltd, a major Chinese automobile and equipment-manufacturing group, to acquire and increase its shareholding in Kion Group AG.

"ICBC is at a critical phase in transforming its business model to fit into China's overall economic transition," said Zeng Gang, a senior researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Finance and Banking.

A mobile phone app called ICBC Direct has recently been released in the Netherlands, becoming a new element to ICBC (Europe) SA Amsterdam Branch.

For overseas Chinese banks with limited outlets, the service model of "direct account opening and online customer service" available through direct banking may not only extend their service coverage but also enhance market penetration and customer stickiness.

Moreover, the bank is also making efforts to localize its business and optimize its assets structure.

By leveraging Hong Kong's market opportunities as an offshore renminbi center, ICBC (Asia) has expanded and innovated its renminbi business and cross-border banking services among Asia-Pacific institutions.

With its solid growth, ICBC (Europe) has won the Best Bank of Luxembourg award, the first among overseas institutions of Chinese-funded commercial banks.

Li You contributed to this story.

zhuanti@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 10/27/2016 page7)