ICBC Signs Agreement with Bank of America on Bank BillsThe Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Monday signed an agreement with Bank of America on the drawing of bank bills in Renminbi.A spokesman for the ICBC said that this move marks the ICBC's advancement into a new business area in international interbank cooperation, and it also makes the Bank of America the first overseas bank to handle bank bills business in RMB in China. To meet the challenges to arise from China's accession into the WTO, the ICBC has further readjusted its business strategies, providing higher quality financial services and more innovative financial products for its clients. In the first four months of the year, the outstanding amount of the ICBC's debts to banks had risen 44.7 percent from the same period last year and 39.5 percent from the beginning of this year. Founded in 1904, the Bank of America is the largest commercial bank in the U.S. The Bank entered China's RMB settlement business market at the end of 1998 and has successfully carried out a number of large financing projects. Today's agreement will bring new business opportunities to the Bank of America. It will be able to handle the drawing of bank bills as an agent of the ICBC. |
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