English

By Fei Xie

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) released information about allowing several foreign financial institutions especially overseas' banks to establish branches in China on its website.

According to this information, the CBRC has approved an application from the Arab Bank, headquartered in Amman, Jordan, to establish a branch in Shanghai and authorized the CTBC Bank, a privately owned bank in Taiwan, to set up an office in Shenzhen. Besides, the CBRC has also permitted the subsidiaries of the Chang Hwa Bank and the Cathy United Bank, both are Taiwanese-based financial institutions, on the Chinese mainland to open for business while allowing a sub-branch of the Bank of East Asia to be upgraded to a branch.

China has always played an essential role in the global financial market, and more and more foreign financial institutions are eager to enter this market. To take advantage of China's latest policies about opening up its financial sector, these international financial institutions including other banks have accelerated their business operations in Shanghai, China's commercial hub.

So far, according to the data from Xinhua news, there is a total of 1,537 financial institutions in Shanghai, with nearly 30 percent of them set up by foreign companies. The city's financial market recorded a transaction value of 1,428 trillion yuan (216 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2017.

The Chinese government has also made several efforts to attract overseas banks. The Shanghai Pilot free trade zone announced new measures several months ago, and it pledged to adjust restrictions for these institutions' range of businesses. Moreover, it promised to promote reforms in the financial sector and optimize the legal environment to make sure it keeps pace with the international rules.

The report also pointed out that to be consistent with national policy "One Belt, One Road," ten Chinese financial institutions have already set up 68 first level institutions in countries along the New Silk Road with a cumulative loan value of over 200 billion dollars.