Co-operative Agreements Signed between BanksThe Export-Import Bank of China (China Exim Bank), one of the country's three policy banks, signed all-encompassing co-operative agreements with the Bank of China (BOC) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in Beijing Monday.Under the agreements, the BOC and the ICBC will act as agents for China Exim Bank in various aspects, including export seller's credit, export buyer's credit, renminbi settlement and fund clearing. The policy bank will also beef up co-operation with the two commercial banks in areas such as international settlement, foreign exchange clearing and securities' trading. As two of the four major State-owned commercial banks, the BOC and the ICBC have so far acted as agents for China Exim Bank in 758 export seller's credit projects, involving 81.4 billion yuan (US$9.8 billion). The China Exim Bank is established to support the country's overseas-oriented economy. Since its opening seven years ago, the bank has provided loans of 144.2 billion yuan (US$18 billion), as well as an overseas-oriented guarantee of US$2.6 billion. The policy bank said it plans to set up five to six new regional branches, three to four new domestic representative offices, and about the same number of overseas representative offices to handle the settlement in local and foreign currencies and to offer better services to its corporate clients. During the 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-05), China Exim Bank will further promote its business development and make efforts to achieve an average growth of 15 to 20 per cent in all of its businesses. Sources: China Daily |
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