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2019-04-25 09:43:52

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  By Yuan Shenggao | China Daily

  Updated: 2019-04-25 07:57

  BOC operates branches in 57 countries, regions, issues loans and helps fund infrastructure projects

  The Belt and Road Initiative has fueled the global expansion ambition of Bank of China.

  Since the BRI was proposed in 2013, the bank has been actively trying to integrate its development plan with the initiative.

  Notably, BOC rolled out its own strategy at the end of 2014 to create a “financial artery” to support the initiative. It showed the company‘s determination to build itself into a “global top-class bank in the new era”.

  Bank of China, headquartered in Beijing, is riding high with its global expansion. Photos Provided to China Daily  Bank of China, headquartered in Beijing, is riding high with its global expansion. Photos Provided to China Daily

  To provide better support for the national initiative, BOC has been continuously adding more branches in countries and regions involved in the BRI.

  By the end of March this year, BOC‘s overseas branches had covered 57 countries and regions. Of them, 24 countries and regions are involved in the initiative.

  As a result, BOC has the largest number of overseas branches in countries and regions involved in the initiative among banks in China.

  For instance, BOC has expanded its branch in Hong Kong to upgrade it from a city bank to a regional bank.

  At present, the BOC HK branch, together with BOC branches in countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is offering better financial services for the construction of BRI-involved projects in Southeast Asia.

  From 2015 to the end of March this year, BOC granted credit worth $136.1 billion in BRI countries and regions.

  During the period, BOC engaged in more than 600 key projects in BRI countries and regions, including those with Saudi Arabian Oil and Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway.

  BOC has strengthened cooperation with multiple international organizations, banks and insurance companies during its global expansion.

  On April 10, BOC issued its fifth batch of overseas bonds worth $3.8 billion to provide financial support for BRI projects.

  The move enabled the total amount of the bonds that the bank has issued to reach $15 billion since the first batch was issued in 2015, making BOC the bank that has issued the most bonds to support BRI projects overseas.

  In 2018, BOC helped to sell yuan-denominated “panda bonds” worth 5.46 billion yuan ($813.35 million) for countries such as Hungary and the Philippines.

  Panda bonds refer to bonds issued by foreign governments or organizations in China.

  BOC now boasts more than 1,600 overseas correspondent banks. Of them, about 500 are in BRI countries and regions.

  BOC also serves as the exclusive capital opening bank and as a US dollar liquidation group clearing bank for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

  Of the 25 offshore renminbi clearing banks designated by the central bank of China, 12 are BOC branches, making BOC the top in terms of the number of offshore RMB clearing banks.

  BOC branches in Malaysia and Hungary have made great contributions to the initiative by offering liquidation services for BRI projects in their respective regions.

  The group company has also actively attracted overseas companies to use RMB to expand the global influence of the currency while providing loans to BRI projects.

  The bank has also taken part in a research project of the central bank of China to map out rules supervising the use of currency among BRI countries and regions.

  To help alleviate the financing difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises and offer more support for the real economy, BOC initiated an “overseas matching service” for these companies.

  Since the service was launched in 2014, BOC has held 50 cross-border matching fairs in the world.

  Nearly 30,000 SMEs from 87 countries and regions have joined the fairs.

  In November 2018, BOC undertook a matching fair for exhibitors and businesspeople during the first China International Import Expo in Shanghai.

  More than 1,400 overseas exhibitors from 82 countries and regions and over 3,000 domestic businesspeople participated in the fair.

  BOC has also organized a series of international finance training programs for officials from BRI countries and regions in recent years.

  Notably, Tomislav Nikolic, former president of Serbia, participated in an activity during one of the programs last year.

  The bank has engaged in people-to-people exchanges to boost its influence.

  Since 2018, BOC‘s senior executives have met with political leaders from BRI countries and regions including Serbia, Hungary, Georgia, Pakistan, Malaysia, Myanmar and Cambodia.

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