OREANDA-NEWS. October 18, 2011. The Mumbai Branch of ICBC started operating in Mumbai, India's economic and financial center, marking the first branch from Chinese Mainland in India. The opening of Mumbai Branch underscores ICBC's presence in South Asia and also turns ICBC into one of the strongest foreign financial institutions by service capabilities in this region. Among the guests at the opening ceremony were Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan and ICBC President Yang Kaisheng, reported the press centre of ICBC.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, President Yang Kaisheng said: "The establishment of a branch in India demonstrates ICBC's confidence in Indian economic development and also indicates the commitment to build up the commercial bridge between China and India. ICBC Mumbai Branch, as one of the most significant parts in ICBC's financial service network in South Asia, will adhere to the Bank's business philosophy of "Customer-oriented, Services Create Value" and continuously improve service quality. The new Branch strives to integrate into local society and build itself as an outstanding foreign bank that can win recognition and trust from the local regulators, customers and the public.

India has a long history, one of the four great ancient civilizations. India is also the largest country in South Asia, the second most populous nation in the world. Being a member of BRICS countries, India maintains an average annual growth rate of GDP at over 7% in the past five years and is considered an emerging economy with growth potential and an attractive country in the 21st century. China and India established diplomatic relationship sixty years ago. Thanks to the concerted efforts, cooperation between the two countries has been moving at an impressive pace since then, especially the strategic partnership relation of the 2 nations in the 21st century emphasizing peace and prosperity. Within a decade on the back of booming economic and trade cooperation, bilateral trade volume has been rising nearly twenty-fold to USD 61.76 billion in 2010. China is now India's No.1 trading partner, while India is also China's biggest trading partner in South Asia.

The increasing closer economic and trade communication and investment cooperation between China and India provide a sound basis for the development of financial sector, offering great potential for ICBC to strengthen its presence in India as well. Capitalizing on the advantages of the vast leading position of parent company in terms of customers, capital, service network and technology, ICBC Mumbai Branch will foster closer ties with Chinese companies in India, support the Indian infrastructure sectors (telecommunication, transportation, power) and extend financial services to other industries like heavy machinery, automobile. The Mumbai branch focuses on providing a full range of best-quality, convenient financial services to local clients, companies and individuals. The Branch aims to contribute its share to serve the companies from India and China and promote the economic and social development of India.

ICBC is currently the world's largest listed bank by market value, profit, customer deposit and brand value. ICBC provides a wide range of financial products and services to more than 4 million corporate clients and 260 million individual customers worldwide through 16,000+ outlets across China and a global network of more than 1,500 correspondent banks as well as electronic banking.

The Bank has over USD 2 trillion of total assets by end of 2010 with an after-tax profit of more than USD 25 billion in the year. ICBC has settled international transactions to a total of more than USD 1 trillion. To cope with the globalization of customers and market, ICBC escalates its global footprint and sets up 220+ overseas branches in 30+ countries and regions as of today. ICBC has set up a global service platform covering all the major international finance centers and China’s trading regions with well-defined hierarchy, reasonable positioning, diversified channels and efficient operation.

Leveraging its technological strength, all ICBC subsidiaries use one unified platform to handle business transactions, manage risks and share information in a bid to ensure the quality of services to the worldwide customers. Through continual management and technological reform, ICBC has also established a global product line and mechanism across the globe for domestic and overseas branches growing together, encompassing all major businesses such as retail banking, bank card, electronic banking, fund clearing, special finance, cash management, investment banking, asset management and trade finance.