HONG KONG/SHENZHEN – International banks have ramped up financial cooperation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, allowing individual investors on the Chinese mainland access to the financial hub’s investment products through their cross-border financial services, banks said.
Standard Chartered Bank announced on Tuesday it has completed construction of its Greater Bay Area Center in Guangzhou, marking a milestone in the British bank’s business expansion in the Bay Area.
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GBA is a strategic focus for Standard Chartered, and our GBA business plays an integral role in contributing to the bank’s aspirations in Asia.
Benjamin Hung, CEO for Asia, Standard Chartered
With a total investment of $40 million, the project will support the operations of retail and corporate banking in the region, promote the development and application of innovative financial solutions, and strengthen the cross-boundary banking services of Standard Chartered in the region.
“GBA is a strategic focus for Standard Chartered, and our GBA business plays an integral role in contributing to the bank’s aspirations in Asia,” Benjamin Hung, Standard Chartered’s CEO for Asia, said.
The bank announced earlier that it will invest $300 million into China-related business within the next three years to grasp the opportunities brought by the country’s continuous opening-up, and double its profit contribution to the group by 2024, including the business in the GBA, he said.
Anthony Lin, Standard Chartered’s CEO for the Greater Bay Area, said the rapid development of the GBA has accelerated financial cooperation in the region and promoted two-way trade and investment, which provides more development space for creating a larger regional financial ecosystem.
The bank said there are currently 700 employees based in the GBA center and the number is expected to increase to 1,600 by the end of next year.
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DBS Bank (Hong Kong) and Shenzhen-based Shenzhen Rural Commercial Bank recently announced the launch of a partnership, enabling mainland investors access to a wide range of financial products and digital banking services through the southbound trading channel under the Bond Connect program.
Sebastian Paredes, CEO of DBS Bank (Hong Kong), said the partnership strengthens the bank’s cross-border banking cooperation to bring a quality and international wealth management experience to individual investors in different cities within the GBA. The bank will continue to explore suitable partnership opportunities to enhance its influence in the area to meet the growing financial needs of customers in the GBA.
Contact the writers at xinlanzeng@chinadailyhk.com , sally@chinadailyhk.com