BEIJING, China: The Bank of China’s executives have announced their commitment to strengthen further the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a move aimed at advancing China’s high-standard approach to international engagement and opening-up.
The bank, with a presence in 64 countries and regions, including 44 participating in the BRI, plans to expand its financial services to serve domestic and overseas enterprises to boost trade and investment.
Yan Haisi, Deputy General Manager of Corporate Banking at Bank of China, expressed the bank’s dedication to exploring BRI markets to ensure the smooth functioning of industrial and supply chains, fostering bilateral and multilateral cooperation to enhance industrial capacity.
Bank of China intends to establish new overseas facilities to encompass a broader range of countries and regions involved in the BRI. In its support for infrastructure development, the bank will focus on key traditional sectors such as railways, ports, and telecommunications, as well as emerging areas like green development, the digital economy, and innovation.
This approach is expected to create new opportunities and expand existing avenues for international collaboration while delivering consistent, long-term financial backing to BRI participant countries and regions, as reported by China Daily.
The bank is also poised to enhance the quality of its financial services by introducing innovative service models and expanding economic collaboration with policy and development finance institutions, multilateral entities, and commercial finance organizations from developed countries.
According to Liu Yunfei, Deputy General Manager of Global Transaction Banking at Bank of China, the cross-border use of the renminbi in BRI countries and regions has experienced rapid growth.
Data from BOC revealed that cross-border renminbi settlements by its domestic branches increased by 22 percent year-on-year to reach 8.29 trillion yuan ($1.14 trillion) in January-August. Settlements with BRI countries and regions grew by 27 percent to approximately 919.49 billion yuan during the same period.
In contrast, cross-border renminbi settlements conducted by all of BOC’s overseas branches, including those in the BRI landscape, amounted to 14.3 trillion yuan, marking a 4.45 percent year-on-year increase. Notably, settlements by branches in BRI countries and regions saw a remarkable surge of over 90 percent, reaching 572.85 billion yuan.
A white paper on the Belt and Road Initiative, issued by the State Council Information Office, indicated that 13 Chinese-funded banks had established 145 first-tier offices and branches in 50 BRI partner countries as of the end of June. —APP
