ADB to Increase Investment in ChinaThe Asian Development Bank, a multilateral development finance institution in the Asia Pacific region, announced that it will increase presence in the Chinese financial market."We have planned talks with two domestic banks for equity investment in the near future," said Bruce Murray, resident representative of the ADB resident mission in China. "But the two banks are not included in the four State-owned commercial institutions, and would-be cooperative partners will be smaller commercial banks, " Murray was quoted as saying by Chinadaily on November 27. ADB plans to purchase a maximum of 25 percent or US$50 million, in stakes from domestic commercial banks, according to Murray. "One of ADB's objectives for investment is to help banks ensure the best cooperative governance and management practices," Murray said. The ADB had invested 20 million U.S. dollars in China's Everbright Bank, one of the country's six commercial banks, in 1996. In the late 1990s, ADB also took a 10 percent stake in Xiamen International Bank, a commercial bank in southeast China's Fujian Province. Apart from its investment in the banking sector, the ADB has invested some one billion U.S. dollars each year in other projects, such as infrastructures, to help the country reduce property and foster economic development. |
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