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Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Middle East) Limited today announced the launch of its operations in the Middle East and North Africa region. ICBC (Middle East) is the first wholly-owned subsidiary bank established in the Middle East by any Chinese bank till date. This launch also reflects that ICBC has successfully taken a major step towards expanding its overseas financial services offering and promoting its internationalization strategy.
 
Located at Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC), ICBC (Middle East) has been authorized to conduct the financial services listed under Category One, which covers the widest range of the local financial regulation. It includes accepting deposits, providing credits, trade finance, dealing in investments as principal, dealing in investments as agent, arranging credit or deals in investments, managing assets, advising on financial products or credit, arranging custody, etc.
 
Since the 1950s, China and the UAE have been trading partners and in recent years, bilateral trade has witnessed sustained and rapid growth. In 2007, bilateral trade amounted to more than USD 20 billion, an increase of 41 per cent over 2006. The UAE has become China''s second largest trading partner and largest export market in the Arab world. At the end of 2007, non-financial direct investment from Chinese enterprises in the UAE has amounted to USD 180 million, involving sectors such as petroleum and petrochemicals, telecommunications, trade, project contracting, logistics and real estate, while Chinese-funded companies registered in the UAE have topped 3000. Continuous development of economic and trade exchanges between China and the UAE, as well as growing demand for investment, has created more demand for financial cooperation between both countries.
 
Considering its international strategy and the demand for expanding its overseas network, ICBC applied for the establishment of ICBC (Middle East) in the fourth quarter of 2007. With the support and help from governments and regulators in China and the UAE, on April 28^th, 2008, ICBC (Middle East) successfully obtained a full business license with the highest rating from the local financial regulator. According to experts in the industry, as the cooperation among China, the UAE and other Middle East countries continues to strengthen, ICBC (Middle East) will build a more direct and accessible bridge for regional investments and economic and trade activities, which will greatly enhance ICBC’s capacity to provide global services for clients.
 
Jiang Jianqing, Chairman of ICBC, said at the opening ceremony, that based on its strong financial strength, advanced technological expertise and diversified business platform, ICBC Middle East is committed to building a more direct and accessible bridge for investment and trade activities between China, the UAE and other Middle East countries. At the same time, ICBC (Middle East) will make full use of the geographic advantage and financial resources of UAE and Qatar, and will gradually expand the scope of business to the entire Middle East and North Africa region. ICBC (Middle East) will provide trading clients, multinational corporations, financial institutions and individual clients in the Middle East and North Africa region with a full range of high-quality financial services. It will further enhance the competitiveness of ICBC in the Middle East and global arena.
 
As China''s largest commercial bank, ICBC has a solid client base, advanced IT platform, and diversified products; it maintains a leading position in all its major business areas in China. After share listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2006, its management expertise and profitability witnessed a sharp increase. In the first half 2008, ICBC realized after-tax profits of USD 9.5 billion, making it the world''s most profitable bank. In recent years, under the backdrop of economic integration and financial globalization, taking notice of the huge demand from Chinese enterprises which have adopted the “Going-out” strategy, ICBC has been actively promoting the strategy of internationalization, speeding up the extension of its overseas network, widening the field of business, in an effort to enhance its ability for cross-border financial services.

At the end of June 2008, ICBC had extended its business operations in 15 countries and regions, with a total of 126 branches and subsidiary banks, and established correspondent bank relationship with 1360 banks in 122 countries and regions. It aims to be a multi-level, structured, reasonably positioned, and efficiently operated global financial service network with diverse channels. It will cover major international financial centers and China''s major economic and trade cooperation regions.
 

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