25 November 2011
The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has
officially opened its first representative office in
Africa, aimed at deepening the ties between China and
Africa.
The office, situated in Cape Town, will focus on
strengthening strategic co-operation between ICBC and
Standard Bank Group, deepening the understanding of the
African markets as well as facilitating economic
development and trade between China and Africa by
leveraging the world-class IT platform of the ICBC
group.
Speaking at the official inauguration of the
representative office, Mr Jiang Jianqing, Chairman and
Executive Director of ICBC, said the strategic
positioning and growth potential of Africa in the long
run has always been a focus of ICBC. ICBC became the
largest single shareholder of the Standard Bank Group
in 2008 after a R36.7-billion investment, giving it a
20% shareholding in Standard Bank Group.
"Being an important gateway of Africa to the world
and a member of the BRICS, the Republic of South Africa
is recognised as a model of the fast-growing economies
in Africa. ICBC's decision to open a representative
office in South Africa reflects the strong belief we
have in Africa, as well as the importance of the
China-Africa strategic partnership," said Mr
Jiang.
Standard Bank Group Chief Executive Jacko Maree
welcomed the opening of the ICBC representative office.
"ICBC's purchase of a 20% stake in Standard
Bank was the largest Chinese investment in Africa and
signalled ICBC's clear commitment to Africa. We are
working closely with ICBC to identify new business
opportunities across the continent."
"Across the African continent, from the
construction of the largest coal-fuelled power station
in Botswana, to the syndicated loan to Ghana COCOBOD;
from the Angola Social Housing Constructions Site to
the Nigeria expressway, staff of the two banks are
working together on the frontlines," said Chairman
Jiang.
By the end of September 2011, the two banks had been
involved in over 110 cooperative projects, covering
multiple areas such as corporate business, settlement
and cash management, IT, money market and risk
management. The cooperation brought not only a good
return on investment, but also a deeper understanding
of the African market for ICBC. The total amount of
financing agreements signed by ICBC was over
USD7-billion, making ICBC one of the most influential
Chinese financial institutions in Africa
Powered by the global network and the world's
leading IT platform of the ICBC group, the ICBC African
representative office aims to provide corporate and
individual clients with state-of-art financial services
through close collaboration with Standard Bank's
sophisticated franchise across Africa.
China and Africa have enjoyed a long-standing
friendship. In recent years, there has been rapid
expansion in areas of mutual economic cooperation, and
a multi-level, wide-ranging cooperation framework has
been established.
China's assistance to Africa has deepened and
partnerships in areas such as trade, investment, and
infrastructure development have broadened. Furthermore,
both China and Africa are exploring common areas of
interest in fields such as finance, telecommunications,
energy, tourism, and aerospace.
All these initiatives have made China Africa's
biggest trading partner. Statistics shows that
China-Africa trade in 2010 reached USD126.9-billion, a
year-on-year growth of 39.35%. Up to now, more than 1
600 Chinese companies have invested or started
businesses in Africa. By the end of 2010, a total of
USD40-billion investment from China had reached more
than 50 countries.
In the first half of 2011, non-financial direct
investment grew by 46.7% compared to last year.
Analysis indicates that the total volume of investment
is increasing, the fields of cooperation are expanding
and the type of investment is diversifying.
In addition, to encourage investment from small and
medium size Chinese businesses, 6 trade and economy
cooperation zones have been established, in which
thousands of job opportunities have been provided, the
local industry developed, and tax income boosted.
While trade and economic development are blossoming,
the cultural and academic exchange is also dynamic and
fruitful. Programmes such as the China-Africa Youth
Festival, China Africa Science and Technology
Partnership Program (CASTEP), and China Africa Culture
Forum, have been successfully started. In addition,
China is also promoting training programmes in Africa,
with 30 000 Africans being trained so far and more than
10 000 African students now studying in China.
As the largest commercial bank in China, ICBC boasts a
powerful customer base, leading information technology
and diversified products; and is a market leader in
major business areas in China.
Since its simultaneous listing in Shanghai and Hong
Kong in 2006, ICBC has rapidly enhanced its operating
systems, management levels and profitability. ICBC is
ranked the world's number one bank by market
capitalisation, profit and customer deposits.
In recent years, ICBC has actively implemented its
international operation strategy through the
establishment of new institutions, mergers and
acquisitions, accelerated the construction of overseas
institutions, broadened the business areas and strived
to enhance its cross-border financial service
capacity.
ICBC has set up 234 overseas institutions in 31
countries and territories across the globe, established
correspondence relationships with 1 537 banks in 135
countries and territories. Its global operating network
covers Asia, Africa, Europe, the Americas and
Australia.
Boosted by cutting-edge technologies, ICBC has
integrated business processing, risk management and
information sharing modules to ensure a seamless global
platform to provide clients all over the world with top
quality service.
In addition, continuous innovation and improvement of
management and technology have enabled ICBC to
establish global product lines and realise world-wide
synergy in areas such as retailing, bank cards,
e-Banking, settlement, financing, investment banking,
capital management, and trade finance.
See www.icbc.com.cn for more
about ICBC.
|
Recommend:
