Dutch bank ABN AMRO plans to locally incorporate its business in China in order to provide renminbi (RMB) services to individual customers, a bank official said yesterday.

 

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has proposed that foreign players locally incorporate their business worth at least 1 billion yuan (US$125 million) in order to secure a license to offer RMB services to local residents.

 

"ABN AMRO is in the position to boost business in various sectors in China's mainland, but all the business should be done in line with relevant regulatory rules," the bank's China executive, Linda Wong, told the press.

 

ABN AMRO is the first foreign bank to agree to the CBRC proposal, for which the regulator is seeking advice before putting it into effect.

 

China must fully open its financial markets to foreign banks by the end of this year under a commitment to the World Trade Organization.

 

Richard Yorke, HSBC Chief Executive Officer China, also said that the Europe's biggest lender is looking at the CBRC document, adding that it has an ambitious expansion plan in China for the next two years.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2006)