OREANDA-NEWS. July 22, 2013. Bank of China Lisbon Branch held its opening ceremony on July 1 in Lisbon, becoming the first BOC branch to set up in Portugal.

At the opening ceremony, Tian Guoli, President of BOC, noted that as a financial institution that enjoys a century-long history, BOC has developed into the most internationalized and diversified bank in China. In addition, among its counterparts in the emerging economies, BOC is the only bank that has been listed in the Systematically Important Financial Institutions for two consecutive years. With over 10,000 branches around the world, BOC provides a variety of top-notch and effective financial services covering commercial banking, investment banking, insurance, fund management, aviation leasing and so on. Upon the opening of its Lisbon branch, BOC will seize the historic opportunities brought by the strengthened cooperation between China and Portugal in trade and economy to provide better financial services for corporate clients and individuals in industrial, commercial and financial sectors and to make more contributions to promote bilateral exchange and cooperation.

Huang Songpu, the Chinese Ambassador to Portugal, congratulated on the opening of the BOC Lisbon Branch. He also hoped that BOC, by pooling its resources as an international diversified financial institution, could continue to help Chinese companies gain a firm foothold in Portugal and attract prominent Portuguese companies to invest in China, so as to strengthen the economic and trade exchanges between China and Portugal.

Pedro Reyes, Chairman of AICEP Portugal Global - Trade & Investment Agency, said that the establishment of BOC Lisbon Branch shows China's confidence in Portuguese financial sector and represents an important move to enhance the bilateral cooperation between China and Portugual.

Located in the central business district of Lisbon, BOC Lisbon Branch provides services of current deposits, term deposits, mortgage loans, collateral loans, loans (bilateral loans and syndicated loans), trade financing (credit letter, letter of guarantee, factoring business and export & import), etc.

Currently, BOC overseas operations have been set up in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and 35 countries. Moreover, financial services are provided through the "China Desk" in banks in countries such as Oman, Ghana, Peru, Chile, Turkey, Finland, Uganda, Mongolia, Mexico, Egypt and Kenya, and agency relationships have been established with over 1,600 foreign banks in nearly 180 countries and regions.