SBI gets license to normal banking operations in China
February 20, 2006
BEIJING: The State Bank of India (SBI) became the
first Indian bank in China to get approval to start normal banking operations in
the booming Communist nation, further facilitating the growing trade and
investment between the two Asian giants.
"We have received the license from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) to start normal banking operations in foreign currency," Chief Executive Officer of SBI Shanghai branch, T C A Ranganathan told PTI here.
"We are extremely happy with this development," Ranganathan, who was here to collect the licence from the CBRC said, adding that normal banking operations would commence from next financial year.
SBI, the largest commercial bank of India, has already taken adequate office space in China's largest city and commercial hub, Shanghai, he said.
Welcoming SBI's upgradation as a full-fledged bank, Indian Ambassador to China Nalin Surie said it bode well for further stepping up bilateral trade which rose 37.64 per cent to hit a record 18.71 billion US dollars last year. "It is a very good development which will further facilitate trade and investment between India and China." He hoped that SBI's upgradation would encourage more Indian banks to venture into China and tap the potential here.
SBI, which has 65 offices/branches in 32 countries spanning all time zones, had established its Representative Office (RO) at Shanghai in 1997 and obtained clearance from the Reserve Bank of India in 2002 to upgrade the China office into a branch.
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