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Foreign banks are expanding aggressively in the lucrative Chinese market, knowing they will soon be able to deal in the renminbi retail business.

 

The country's banking regulator approved over the weekend the first group of nine foreign lenders to incorporate locally, a sign that these overseas players will qualify for the business that is currently closed to them.

 

Executives of major domestic lenders in Shanghai said yesterday that Chinese players would be compelled to engage in further reforms amid the pressure that comes with full-front competition with overseas rivals in attracting high-end customers, recruiting talent and offering products with high added value.

 

At the same time, an equivalent competitive environment and supervisory framework would help domestic and overseas institutions carry out further partnership, they insisted.

 

The Hong Kong-based Hang Seng Bank plans to expand its operation on the mainland to more than 2,000 staff working among a network of 50 outlets by 2010, the bank said yesterday. The lender, a principal member of the HSBC Group with 15 outlets on the Chinese mainland, has been approved to begin preparations for setting up a subsidiary bank.

 

"Hang Seng's mainland subsidiary bank, with its headquarters in Shanghai, is expected to be set up in the first half of 2007," Johnson Fu, the bank's head of China business, said.

 

He said that it would incorporate locally with a registered capital of 5 billion (US$625 million) and, as of 2007, the total investment by the lender would reach 6.7 billion (US$838 million), together with its 1.7 billion (US$213 million) investment in a 15.98 percent stake in the Fujian-based Industrial Bank.

 

Compared with domestic rivals, the biggest obstacle for foreign banks is the scarcity of outlets. To close the gap, the British Standard Chartered Bank has decided to open two additional sub-branches before the end of 2006 and double the number of existing outlets within the next 18 months.

 

With one of the largest foreign bank networks in China with 20 outlets in 14 cities, Standard Chartered intended to expand the number of staff in China to more than 2,000 before 2008 from the current number of about 800.

 

It also signed a framework agreement last week with Shanghai's metro operator and is about to install its ATM machines inside metro stations. Last month Standard Chartered announced the installation of their first ATM machine in Shanghai and their plan to set up at least 20 self-service facilities in key Chinese cities in the next few months.

 

In view of the fierce competition in the eastern regions, overseas players are advancing westward to explore the relatively less developed areas.

 

HSBC, Europe's biggest lender, opened a new branch in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, on Friday, becoming the first foreign bank to expand its presence to western China following the full opening of China's financial sector on December 11.

 

"As an economic centre of western China, Xi'an has achieved impressive growth in recent years and offers great potential for HSBC," Richard Yorke, HSBC chief executive officer China, said.

 

Vincent Cheng, HSBC chairman, said: "as long as there are customers, we will go there."

 

Other players approved in the first group of nine to set up local corporations are also sparing no efforts to roll out new outlets. ABN AMRO and the Bank of East Asia plan to open 30 and 35 new outlets respectively in five years.

 

Overseas lenders are working to boost other parts of their operation such as product development, service improvement and image building.

 

Singapore's DBS Bank posted an ad on Kong.net, a WAP portal owned by China wireless value-added service provider Kongzhong, to promote its brand.

 

Among imminent full-front competition, leaders of domestic lenders pointed to a wider prospect for co-operation in areas such as owner-management mechanisms, risk control, profit-making plans and product and service innovation.

 

Chen Xin, president of Bank of Shanghai, said yesterday that lenders would compete more fiercely for high-end customers in the relatively developed regions.

 

In order to best respond: "domestic banks should fully play on their advantages in geography, human resources and network, and enhance management, innovation ability and provide qualified services," Chen said.

 

(China Daily December 26, 2006)