OREANDA-NEWS. December 16, 2013. Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC) Frankfurt Branch officially opened for business. Wen Zhenshun, Consul-General of China in Frankfurt, Kraus Mobius, Vice Mayor of Frankfurt, Steven Bret, Director of Economic Orders and Financial Service Department with Hessian Ministry of Economics, Transport, Urban and Regional Development, Frank Moss, a directorate member of European Central Bank, and nearly 300 guests from governmental departments, financial sector and business circles attended the opening ceremony. Zhang Yun, President of ABC, was present and delivered a speech.

Germany is one of the most important trading partners of China. Since the establishment of the Sino-Germany diplomatic relations in 1972, the bilateral economic and trading ties have been rapidly developing. In 2012, the bilateral trade volume reached USD161.1 billion, 586 times that of 1972 and equivalent to 29.5% of the Sino-Europe trade volume. The continuously increasing economic, trade and investment ties between the two countries created opportunities for their deepened financial cooperation and meanwhile raised immense demands for cross-border financial services of banks.

As the first operational institution of ABC in the Continental Europe, Frankfurt Branch will mainly provide corporate clients with services such as corporate deposit, syndicated loans, bilateral loans, trade finance, international settlement, foreign exchange clearing and foreign exchange trading. Its establishment signals that ABC has made another major progress in constructing a cross-border financial service network and improving its global operational ability. In the future, the Branch will provide important support for ABC to explore the European market, building a 24x7 global asset operating platform and establish a multi-currency cross-border clearing network.

It is significant for ABC to promote international financial exchange and cooperation, improve its service ability for global clients and foster internationalized talents.

ABC President Zhang Yun said at the opening ceremony that ABC will make full use of the opportunities of Renminbi internationalization, Chinese enterprises “going global” and global allocation of financial assets. It will steadily integrate itself into the global market and further construct and improve the cross-border service network. ABC will fully tap into the platform of Frankfurt Branch and further deepen the cooperation with financial institutions in Germany and Europe. It will develop Frankfurt Branch into a quality financial service provider for China-Germany bilateral trade, a forceful promoter of the bilateral financial cooperation and an active participant in building the Frankfurt international financial center.

By doing so, ABC will contribute to the mutual benefit and common development with its clients and promote the Sino-Germany and Sino-Europe economic and trade exchange and cooperation.

In recent years, ABC has been steadily promoting its overseas layout and development in accordance with the general guidelines of "based on the local market and integrating into the global market with a rational business network, steady operation but controllable risks." At present, it has set up 13 overseas branches in 11 countries and regions, and established relationship of agent banks with 1,474 banks in 132 countries and regions. A global financial service network has initially taken form, covering main international financial centers and countries and regions with close economic and trade ties with China. Its ability in internationalized comprehensive management has been steadily improved.

As one of the top four commercial banks in China, ABC sees its global influence increasingly elevated as its business keeps developing and expanding. By the end of September 2013, its total assets reached RMB14.60 trillion, and the net profit for the first three quarters reached RMB138.037 billion. In 2013, ABC ranked 64th among the Fortune Global 500 by the American Fortune, and ranked 10th among the Top World 1000 Banks by The Banker in terms of tier 1 capital.