Industrial Bank seeks growth

Industrial Bank Co Ltd, a mid-sized Chinese commercial lender based in Fujian province, will seek to acquire securities and insurance licenses in an effort to build a comprehensive financial service group.

Chen Xinjian, the bank's vice president and secretary of the board, said on Thursday: "We'll continue to improve the layout of our group and establish a comprehensive operation system, with a plan to acquire more financial licenses and to set up or acquire financial service institutions overseas."

Meanwhile, the group will enhance the linkage and the ability of joint development for its operations, he said.

At present, it already has eight licenses covering a wide range of financial services, including trusts, funds and futures.

As of the end of September, the group managed more than 3.3 trillion yuan ($519 billion) in assets on behalf of the clients. The net worth of assets under its custody reached 6.77 trillion yuan.

Chen said the bank is considering setting up subsidiaries for asset custody and asset management, respectively, to operate these two kinds of business independently.

Li Jian, general manager of the bank's planning and financial department, said commercial banks are facing huge pressure due to China's economic slowdown and restructuring.

"With the acceleration of interest rate liberalization, Chinese banks' profit growth is declining as net interest margins continue to shrink. It's a matter of urgency for commercial lenders to make a transition," he said.

As a result, Industrial Bank is combining its banking business with investment banking and its lending with investment to better satisfy client demands.