Chinese Bank Sees Rise in Forex BusinessThe China Construction Bank (CCB) announced Friday that by the end of June, the bank's business stock of foreign exchange amounted to US$8.244 billion, up 19.6 percent from the beginning of the year.A spokesman for the CCB said that the bank actively participated in foreign exchange capital market to meet the challenges arising from China's imminent accession into the WTO and adapt to rules of the international market. He said that in the first half of the year, the CCB's outstanding investment in forex bonds reached US$1.47 billion, increasing US$400 million or 37 percent over the beginning of the year. In the first half of the year the bank realized investment profits of over US$37 million and a marginal income of US$7.45 million in forex bond business, with a half-year net return of four percent, much higher than the inter-bank lending interest rate in the international market. He said in accordance with interest changes in the international market, the CCB timely readjusted the time period for inter-bank lending and the structure of currencies; while at the same time gradually increasing investment in forex bonds. In addition, in the first half of the year the CCB's local currency trading volume reached 167.3 billion yuan (about US$20 billion), 2.7 times that of the same period last year. In the domestic inter-bank bond market, the bank purchased bonds of 22.85 billion yuan through public bidding, accounting for 14 percent of the total issuing volume during the period. |
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