HSBC Shenyang Branch is the first branch of HSBC China which opened after becoming locally incorporated in 2007. After 18 months of operations, the branch has become profitable.

In 2008, the branch's customer deposits grew by 50% from a year before. In November 2008, HSBC opened its first sub-branch in Shenyang and launched debit cards.

Xiong Ziwei, former deputy branch manager of HSBC Xiamen Branch, took up his new role in July 2008. Recently, he sat down with China Daily reporters Wu Yong and Liu Ce to share his view on a wide range of topics, including competitive advantage, growth outlook and corporate social responsibilities.

Q: What services does your branch provide and who are your customers?

A: Regardless of whether they are banking with foreign or Chinese banks, customers can enjoy almost the same range of banking services. Our services are offered to customers of all categories including foreign invested enterprises (FIEs), domestic corporations, and overseas and local residents, in both foreign and local currencies.

For our branch, multinationals remain a major customer segment, while we also have a fairly large portion of domestic companies in our customer base, especially those large state-owned equipment manufacturers with whom we have established good business relationships.

On the personal financial service side, we focus on Premier Service, which is HSBC's worldwide wealth management proposition for retail banking customers. This service is quite popular in Shenyang as 94% of our Premier customers are local residents. We plan to launch home mortgage loan services in the second quarter of this year to provide our customers with more options.

Q: What is HSBC's competitive advantage over your competitors?

A: Foreign and domestic banks have their own strengths and can complement each other's businesses in the overall market. Domestic banks are very competitive in terms of their networks, talent, customer base and technology. International banks can not replace the networks and services offered by local banks.

Our competitive advantage lies in our global network and resources. With around 9,500 offices in 86 countries and territories, we are able to provide our customers with tailored products and services that can help offer Chinese corporations better access to overseas markets, and offer overseas companies improved access to China.

For personal financial services, HSBC Premier gives customers recognition and access to privileged services at more than 300 International Premier Centres located in major cities around the world, and more than 6,000 branches with Premier Service stops. An HSBC Premier customer in any country or region can enjoy recognition by HSBC Premier Centres worldwide. This unique proposition is well positioned to meet the needs of our customers who are engaged in cross-border activities.

Q: How has your branch been performing since opening?

A: In spite of the effects of the global financial crisis on the China market, HSBC China continued to register strong growth in 2008. As one of HSBC China's 19 branches, Shenyang Branch also achieved solid performance. At the end of 2008, we increased our customer base by over 160% from a year ago, with deposits up 50% and loans 4.5 times greater than the previous year. This healthy business growth helped us become profitable only about 18 months into operations.

Exciting achievements in 2008 also included the opening of our first sub-branch in November, and at almost the same time we launched debit cards that enable HSBC China's card holders to access China Unionpay's domestic and overseas networks in about 50 countries and territories. HSBC-branded ATMs in 40 countries and territories also support the debit cards. This new service has become very popular among our retail customers in Shenyang.