Banking News
- Construction Bank opens Australian office
Date: 5-Dec-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CHINA Construction Bank Corp. (Construction Bank), the world's second-largest bank by value, has opened its first Australian office in Sydney as it seeks to take advantage of rising Chinese demand for the nation's raw materials.
'We expect to bring benefits to Australia by promoting bilateral trade and would also like to assist Australian companies in Sydney to expand their business in China,'' Zhang Jianguo, president of Construction Bank, said yesterday in a statement.
China has overtaken Japan to become Australia's largest trading partner, with the value of the two nations' trade doubling in three years to A$40 billion (US$35 billion) last year. Commodity exports from Australia, the world's biggest shipper of coal, iron ore and wool, may rise to a record for a fourth straight year as Chinese demand pushes up prices and volumes.
Construction Bank will apply for a license in Australia to offer corporate banking services, Zhang said. The bank has more than US$800 billion in assets and has the highest credit rating of all China's banks.
Establishing a presence in Australia is an important strategic step of China Construction Bank's overseas business expansion plan, the bank said in a statement on its Web site. 'Our country's transformation into an advanced economy will continue to generate high growth for the foreseeable future.''
The bank will seek to promote new trade partnerships and conduct market research in Australia, it said in the statement. It is also seeking to expand operations in Vietnam, the United States and the Middle East, it said.
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