OREANDA-NEWS. October 19, 2009. JSC VTB Bank and Agricultural Bank of China signed a Framework Loan Agreement at the 4th Russia-China Economic Forum held in Beijing. Vasily Titov, First Deputy Chairman of VTB Management Board, and Zhang Yun, Vice-Chairman of the Board, President of Agricultural Bank of China took part in the signing ceremony which was held in the presence of Alexander Zhukov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, and Zhang Dejiang, Chinese Vice-Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, reported the press-centre of VTB Bank.       

This agreement replaces the previous agreement which expired in 2008 and envisages opening a USD 500 mln facility for JSC VTB Bank for long-term financing of Russia’s imports from China under insurance of the Chinese export insurance agency SINOSURE. 

Citing Vasily Titov, “the document signed is an additional financial lever for developing Sino-Russian trade and which strengthen VTB’s positions in servicing foreign trade transactions with the PRC. The agreement will also enhance interaction between VTB Bank and China’s leading financial institutions and encourage cooperation in financing trade operations between the countries.”
 
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The Agricultural Bank of China is the PRC’s third largest bank by assets and is one of the four so-called “political” banks of the PRC, its strategic state banks supporting state priority programs. The Bank operates over 30 thousand branches in the PRC and overseas subsidiaries in Singapore, Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, and New York.

The Agricultural Bank of China is traditionally one of the key partners of JSC VTB Bank in the PRC. The main lines of cooperation are trade finance, settlements (including settlements in national currencies) and cooperation in capital markets.