Money

Eximbank expands global network

By Wang Xiaotian (China Daily)
Updated: 2011-03-12 09:46

BEIJING - The Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank), a major policy bank, is planning to broaden both its domestic and overseas networks to strengthen support for Chinese companies that invest abroad, a top executive said on Friday.

The bank wants to open branches in Hong Kong, Africa, and Paris, and three in China in Tianjin municipality, the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, and Xiaman, the capital of Fujian province in Southeast China, said Li Ruogu, chairman and president of the bank.

"Our small assets and limited number of overseas institutions have confined our capability to increase backup for the overseas expansion of Chinese companies," he said in a group interview with media including China Daily.

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At the end of 2010, the assets of China Eximbank exceeded one trillion yuan for the first time. It now has ten domestic business branches and representative offices, and overseas representative offices in France, Russia and South Africa. The bank has also established correspondent banking relations with more than 500 banks overseas.

Li said the bank has so far supported more than 1,300 overseas projects in more than 100 countries, with lending of about $200 billion.

"In future, we will not only provide loans to the companies, but also consultancy services to help them choose the best financing plan and to hedge currency risks efficiently."

He said that the bank will probably receive a new-lending quota of about 200 billion yuan ($30 billion) this year. The move comes against a background of shrinking credit among the country's commercial banks as policymakers tighten money supply to help stabilize prices.

But the profit outlook may not be optimistic in 2011, as the bank faces greater currency risks due to the appreciation of the yuan, said Li.

In 2010, the bank lent about 350 billion yuan, but whole-year profit figures have not yet been released. In the first half, it realized net profit of nearly 1.58 billion yuan, a 46 percent increase year-on-year, with the ratio of non-performing loans driven below 1 percent for the first time. It made an after-tax profit of 2.54 billion yuan in 2009 after lending 368.4 billion yuan in the year.