hellosyam

SBI opens first full fledged branch in China

SHANGHAI, AUGUST 9: The State Bank of India became the first Indian bank to begin full-fledged opeartion in China by opening a branch.

"Being India's largest bank, it is only befitting that SBI should be the first Indian bank to open a branch in mainland China," SBI Chairman O P Bhatt said at a reception held in China's largest city and commercial hub.

Noting that India-China bilateral trade and investment opportunities have rapidly risen to record levels since 1997 when SBI established its Representative Office (RO), Bhatt said the bank was very confident of operating in the huge Chinese market, which is opening up to foreign competition and expansion.

He noted that India-China bilateral trade in 2005 was worth over 18 billion US dollars and during the first six months of 2006, the trade volume has already touched 11.45 billion dollars, indicating that this year total foreign trade between the two Asian giants would cross 20 billion US dollars.

"The opening of the Shanghai branch would go a long way in facilitating trade and investment flows between our two great nations," he said.

posted by Syam @ 2:01 PM