Apart from being the first Chinese bank to set up operating branches in the Middle East, ICBC is also the biggest Chinese bank in the region in terms of total number of branches and business scale.
Apart from being the first Chinese bank to set up operating branches in the Middle East, ICBC is also the biggest Chinese bank in the region in terms of total number of branches and business scale.
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China’s (ICBC) Doha Branch has been designated as the RMB (Chinese yuan) clearing bank in Doha, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said yesterday.
With this appointment, the PBOC has designated ICBC as the first RMB clearing bank in the Middle East and ICBC has its third overseas RMB clearing bank since its Singapore branch was authorised by the PBOC as the clearing bank of RMB business in Singapore last year and its Luxembourg branch authorised in September 2014.
The appointment also marked a major step for ICBC to create a global RMB clearing network across different time zones, while enhancing the “internationalisation” of RMB, especially the utilisation of RMB in the cross-border transactions in Middle East, according to a statement.
After being mandated as the RMB clearing bank, ICBC Doha Branch promises that they will strictly fulfil the obligations to the regulatory rules under the direction of authorities of both China and Qatar, commit to providing safe, premium and efficient RMB clearing service relying on its advantages in business, network and services, as well as rich experience gained from the other two ICBC overseas clearing banks in Singapore and Luxembourg.
In recent years, China and Qatar have strengthened their co-operation both in trade and finance. According to the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics of Qatar, China is the second largest importer and fourth largest exporter of Qatar.
In the field of finance, financial institutions and companies from the two countries have lots of co-operation as well, and investment institutions from Qatar have remarkable investment and dealings in China.
The Qatar Central Bank was allowed to enter China’s interbank bond market, which gives it opportunity to expand its investment in China, based on an agreement signed between the QCB and the PBOC in April this year. On November 3, China gave a 30bn yuan ($4.9bn) quota to Qatar under the “Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor” programme, the first such award of access to its domestic capital markets for a Middle Eastern country. China’s central bank also signed a 35bn yuan currency swap arrangement with
Qatar.
“The establishment of RMB clearing bank in Doha will benefit both Chinese and Qatari companies and financial institutions in trade and investment through its more effective and comprehensive RMB services, and further boost bilateral economic and trade co-operation between China and Qatar,” ICBC said in Doha
yesterday.
ICBC is not only the first Chinese bank to set up operating branches in the Middle East, but also the biggest Chinese bank in the region in terms of total number of branches and business scale.
The bank has presence in four countries in the GCC region with five branches – one each in Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Riyadh.
