Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the country's third-largest
lender, announced yesterday that it had moved its credit card
center to Shanghai from Beijing to take advantage of the eastern
city's more open investment environment.
ABC, the only one of the country's "Big Four" state-owned banks
that has not received a capital injection from the government, has
reportedly submitted its revised restructuring plan to the State
Council. Its president, Yang Mingsheng, said yesterday the bank has
not set a timetable for launching an initial public offering.
Yang said the relocation to Shanghai was aimed at enhancing the
bank's brand value and image as a credible player in the highly
competitive personal banking sector.
The move is also seen as giving Shanghai yet another boost as
the nation's premier financial center and banking hub.
"Shanghai is building itself as an international financial hub
which will help promote our card internationally," Yang said at the
new credit card center's opening ceremony. "The city presents us
with an international platform and a place with an excellent talent
pool and combined information for production, research and
development," he added.
ABC, with total assets amounting to 5.2 trillion yuan (US$650
billion), has issued a total of 240 million bank cards - including
credit cards - worldwide. At the end of the third quarter the
number of cards issued leapt 552 percent from a year earlier and
110 percent from the beginning of 2006. Total revenue from credit
card business soared almost seven times compared with 2005. .
ABC has an extensive group of clients but in particular small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Yang said. "We will rely on
SMEs to expand our card business."
Beijing-based ABC has been attempting to push its image as a
commercial player.
The China Securities Journal reported earlier this month
that the lender has submitted its revised restructuring plan to the
State Council.
It has been sticking to the plan to list the whole company as
breaking up the sprawling bank for restructuring could prove risky,
said Han Zhongqi, the bank's vice-president. Han added the lender
will kick off restructuring after spinning off its losses and will
follow up with moves to bring in foreign strategic
investors.?
The government may inject US$100 billion into the bank, the
Xinhua News Agency has said. The lender reported a 35 percent surge
in operating profit in the first nine months of 2006 as an
expanding economy boosted income from interest and fee-based
services. Operating profit rose 11 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) to
42.6 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion).
(China Daily November 22, 2006)