04 June 2015
RIYADH: The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) plans to establish its first branch in the Kingdom, in the capital.
The Riyadh Branch is the fifth branch of China's "largest commercial bank" in the Middle East.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait host the first four branches. ICBC launched its operations in the region in 2008.
Chinese Ambassador Li-Chengwen described the new branch as a significant partnership between the two countries, which would further boost the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.
"The bank, which is the largest bank in the world, will offer state-of-the art services to its customers," the envoy added.
Speaking about the new branch, Gu Shu, vice president of ICBC, said the people of Saudi Arabia and China enjoy a friendship for a long time. They have frequent economic and trade exchanges and share broad space for cooperation.
"The two countries share wide cooperation opportunities in railway building, energy cooperation, cultural exchange, construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as well as preparation for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The increasingly tighter economic and trade ties and exchanges lay the foundation for the bilateral financial cooperation and raise new demand for cross-border bank services," he said.
With the opening of the Riyadh branch, it will strive to serve as the bridge and bond for economic and trade exchange between the two countries and regions. The bank aims to achieve its excellence and gain the trust of the local people.
Saudi Arabia is China's largest trade partner in the Arab region, an important investment destination and a major project contracting market.
The two-way trade between the two countries stood at $ 69.1 billion last year.
Over the years, he said the two countries made considerable progress in economic and trade cooperation, harvesting rapid growth in bilateral trade and noticeable achievements in energy cooperation.
The two countries also made positive progress in technology, health, new energy and human resource development.
ICBC, claimed to be the largest commercial bank in China, tops the global peers in multiple indicators, including deposits, loans, total assets, tier 1 capital, operating income and brand value.
In recent years, ICBC proactively adapted to customers' demand for diversified financial services and improved its overseas layout by closely following China's process of foreign trade and investment, noticeably improving its global service ability.
ICBC's overseas network covers 42 countries and regions across the world, and its 397 subsidiaries make it a Chinese financial institution with the widest global network coverage.
By holding shares of the Standard Bank of South Africa, ICBC indirectly reached out to 20 African countries, forming a global service network covering Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, America and Australia.
As the important supplement to its global network, the number of its foreign correspondent banks exceeded 1,800, covering over 95 percent of the countries and regions with investment and trade ties with China. Among them, ICBC pays great attention to business expansion in the Middle East.
It is the first Chinese bank to set up business institution in the Arab region, and it is also the Chinese bank with the largest number of institutions and the biggest business size in Middle East so far.
RIYADH: The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) plans to establish its first branch in the Kingdom, in the capital.
The Riyadh Branch is the fifth branch of China's "largest commercial bank" in the Middle East.
Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Kuwait host the first four branches. ICBC launched its operations in the region in 2008.
Chinese Ambassador Li-Chengwen described the new branch as a significant partnership between the two countries, which would further boost the excellent bilateral relations between the two countries.
"The bank, which is the largest bank in the world, will offer state-of-the art services to its customers," the envoy added.
Speaking about the new branch, Gu Shu, vice president of ICBC, said the people of Saudi Arabia and China enjoy a friendship for a long time. They have frequent economic and trade exchanges and share broad space for cooperation.
"The two countries share wide cooperation opportunities in railway building, energy cooperation, cultural exchange, construction of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road as well as preparation for Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The increasingly tighter economic and trade ties and exchanges lay the foundation for the bilateral financial cooperation and raise new demand for cross-border bank services," he said.
With the opening of the Riyadh branch, it will strive to serve as the bridge and bond for economic and trade exchange between the two countries and regions. The bank aims to achieve its excellence and gain the trust of the local people.
Saudi Arabia is China's largest trade partner in the Arab region, an important investment destination and a major project contracting market.
The two-way trade between the two countries stood at $ 69.1 billion last year.
Over the years, he said the two countries made considerable progress in economic and trade cooperation, harvesting rapid growth in bilateral trade and noticeable achievements in energy cooperation.
The two countries also made positive progress in technology, health, new energy and human resource development.
ICBC, claimed to be the largest commercial bank in China, tops the global peers in multiple indicators, including deposits, loans, total assets, tier 1 capital, operating income and brand value.
In recent years, ICBC proactively adapted to customers' demand for diversified financial services and improved its overseas layout by closely following China's process of foreign trade and investment, noticeably improving its global service ability.
ICBC's overseas network covers 42 countries and regions across the world, and its 397 subsidiaries make it a Chinese financial institution with the widest global network coverage.
By holding shares of the Standard Bank of South Africa, ICBC indirectly reached out to 20 African countries, forming a global service network covering Asia, Africa, South America, Europe, America and Australia.
As the important supplement to its global network, the number of its foreign correspondent banks exceeded 1,800, covering over 95 percent of the countries and regions with investment and trade ties with China. Among them, ICBC pays great attention to business expansion in the Middle East.
It is the first Chinese bank to set up business institution in the Arab region, and it is also the Chinese bank with the largest number of institutions and the biggest business size in Middle East so far.
© Arab News 2015
