OREANDA-NEWS. January 22, 2015. The PBOC officially announced its authorization to Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited to act as the RMB clearing bank in Bangkok.

This designation will facilitate the cross-border use of RMB in Thailand and the ASEAN region. Moreover, it was also the fifth time ICBC had been granted the qualification of overseas RMB clearing bank by the Chinese central bank following similar designations in Singapore, Luxembourg, Doha and Toronto, bearing great significance in its drive to establish a global and trans-timezone RMB clearing service network.

According to one of its senior officials, upon becoming the RMB clearing bank in Bangkok, ICBC (Thai) will, under the guidance of the monetary authorities of both countries, strictly comply with the regulatory requirements of both, practically perform its duty and obligation as an RMB clearing bank, actively advance its various tasks, vigorously leverage its advantages in terms of business, network and service, provide customers with safe, premium and swift RMB clearing services, and make new contributions to promoting trade and economic cooperation between China and Thailand/ASEAN.

As one of the founding members of ASEAN, Thailand is China's third biggest trading partner among ASEAN countries; whereas China is Thailand's second biggest trading partner, biggest export destination and second biggest source of imports. In recent years, with bilateral relations increasingly strengthened, both sides have forged a comprehensive strategic partnership. In 2013, bilateral trade amounted to USD 71.26 billion, and the two countries plan to increase bilateral trade to USD 100 billion in 2015. On December 22, 2014, the PBOC and its Thai counterpart renewed a bilateral local currency swap agreement in the amount of RMB 70 billion. The establishment of the RMB clearing bank in Bangkok will bring more convenient and premium financial services to both nations, and the individuals, enterprises and financial institutions in the ASEAN region in use of RMB for cross-border transactions,  further promoting the liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

As an overseas subsidiary of the Bank founded in 2010 following the acquisition of Thailand's ACL Bank, ICBC (Thai) is now the biggest Chinese bank with the most institutions in the country, and holds a local banking license of the highest grade. Since its establishment, the subsidiary has successfully transformed itself from an initial wholesale-based bank into a full-suite international bank engaged in corporate banking, retail banking and interbank business by leveraging ICBC’s overall advantages and local resources. In terms of offshore RMB business, ICBC (Thai), by seizing the strategic opportunity for developing cross-border RMB business, has formed an extensive RMB product/service system comprising RMB remittance & exchange, cash deposit/withdrawal, documents/guarantees, trade finance, overseas loan, lending in offshore markets, and credit card, which effectively met local customers' demand for RMB settlement, exchange, investment and financing, and promoted the cross-border use of RMB.