Bank of East Asia (BEA) set up a branch in this northeastern city yesterday in an effort to extend its mainland network.

"The Shenyang branch is in an excellent position to extend its coverage and services to customers throughout northeastern China," said David KP Li, chairman and chief executive officer of BEA.

BEA, the largest independent local bank in Hong Kong, began its mainland business in 1992. Today its network includes 13 branches and 14 sub-branches on the Chinese mainland.

It set up its locally incorporated Bank of East Asia (China) in Shanghai on April 2.

"In recent years we've seen rapid growth in our mainland business. So we will reinforce our mainland network and provide more services for customers," said Chan Kay-cheung, deputy chief executive officer of BEA.

Chan said the bank's mainland operation had seen double-digit growth in annual profit over the past few years, outperforming other areas in its global network.

"We plan to expand our mainland offices to 30 in three to five years," said Chan.

More and more international investors are setting up businesses in the country's northeastern region, especially from Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan. Another two foreign banks plan to open branches in Shenyang by the end of this year HSBC and Singapore's United Overseas Bank Ltd.

Tang Sing Yu, general manager of the new branch, was cautiously optimistic about the mainland market.

"The amount deposited in accounts is usually not that big on the mainland, but this will change," said Tang.

BEA, along with other foreign lenders HSBC, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank, were approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission to conduct renminbi retail business on the mainland from yesterday.

(China Daily April 24, 2007)