Europe's leading financial institution Fortis is considering putting up stakes in the major banks of China as its Chief Executive Officer Jean-Paul Votron metwith government heads and banking officials in Beijing on Tuesday.

In a meeting with Chinese Vice-Premier Huang Ju, a member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee, Votron said the Belgium-based Fortis group plans to carry out its expansion outside Europe "fundamentally in China."

"The best way to do this is setting up joint ventures with Chinese companies," Votron said.

Votron indicated strong interest in taking part in the reform of Chinese state-owned commercial banks, which have begun the transformation into share-holding companies in 2004.

Votron said Fortis is confident of becoming a good partner withthe Chinese commercial banks, hoping that the European financial service provider will combine its international expertise with theextensive distribution network of the Chinese banks.

Vice-Premier Huang said the Chinese government welcomes Fortis and other international financial groups to take part in the reform of the country's financial sector. He expressed the wish that Fortis will expand cooperation with Chinese banks.

Huang said the Chinese government is firmly pushing forward transformation of the state-owned commercial banks into share-holding companies and restructuring their corporate governance andinternal control system.

Huang said the state-owned commercial banks are striving to develop themselves into modernized commercial banks that have adequate capital, strict internal control, safe operation, good service and profitability. In line with the requirements of modernfinancial corporate governance, the commercial banks are strengthening management and personnel contingent, improving competitiveness and enhancing the ability of fending off risks.

China began to restructure two of its largest state-owned commercial banks in early 2004. The banks include the Bank of China (BOC) and the People's Construction Bank of China (PCBC). The PCBC have already been transformed into a share-holding company under the name of China Construction Bank (CCB) in September 2004.

Votron and a group of top executive of Fortis visited Beijing at the invitation of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the largest bank in the country. ICBC has the most extensive distribution network in China.

Before the meeting with Huang, Votron and his entourage also met with Liu Mingkang, president of China Banking Regulatory Commission, and ICBC Governor Jiang Jianqing on Tuesday morning.

The Fortis Investments, a subsidiary of the Fortis group, has already won QFII (qualified foreign institute investor) status in China and set up a joint venture investment company in China, namely Fortis Haitong Investment Management Co. Ltd. Fortis Investments holds 33 percent of the joint venture, which currentlyhas a total capitalization of 8.7 billion yuan (about 1.1 billion US dollars).

Source: Xinhua