Bank of Beijing boosts assets, seeks overseas investors

Bank of Beijing, the 16th biggest of China's 112 city banks, said Thursday that it boosted total assets to 209 billion yuan (25.2 billion US dollars) at the end of last year.

Outstanding loans totaled 109.6 billion yuan (13.2 billion dollars) and deposits were 189 billion yuan (22.8 billion dollars),a spokesman for the bank said.

The bank, which recently changed its name from the Beijing City Commercial Bank, said the new name would help the bank update its image and consolidate its presence in the market.

China's banking regulator last year allowed the nation's city commercial banks to expand outside their home bases for the first time, making them more attractive to overseas banks.

The regulator also encouraged the city banks to find strategic investors to help them gain technical expertise and cooperate or merge with other city lenders.

Yan Bingzhu, board chairman of Bank of Beijing, said earlier that the bank expects to attract strategic investors early this year and brace to expand operations to other cities on the Chinese mainland.

Overseas investors will be able to hold a combined 25 percent stake -- the ceiling set by the regulator -- in his bank, Yan said.

The nine-year-old bank reported declining non-performing loans (NPLs) and NPL ratio last year.

Foreign banks are seeking partners in China as the nation opens up its financial services sector under provisions of its entry in the World Trade Organization in December 2001.

US equity fund Newbridge Capital last year paid 145 million dollars in a deal to buy 17.89 percent of China's Shenzhen Development Bank.

HSBC Holdings, Europe's biggest bank by market value, agreed last August to acquire 19.9 percent of Shanghai's Bank of Communications, the country's fifth-biggest lender.

Bank of Nova Scotia won approval last September from Chinese regulators to raise its stake in Xi'an City Commercial Bank to as much as 12.5 percent.

Source: Xinhua