OREANDA-NEWS. March 20, 2014. In 2013, ICBC maintained strong momentum in overseas business by steadily boosting multinational strategy and improving global service capability with localized practices. As at the end of 2013, the total asset of ICBC's overseas institutions approached USD 230 billion, up by 34% from the beginning of the year. ICBC has also expanded its network to six continents including Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, America and Australia with more than 300 overseas branches in 40 countries and territories, and indirectly extended to 18 African countries through holding shares in the Standard Bank of South Africa.

During the process of globalization, ICBC has been consistently delivering commitment to serving Chinese companies "going global". By following China's foreign trade and investment, ICBC has expanded service to core target markets, key globalization-pursuing customers and major countries as China’s trade partners.  In the year 2013, ICBC Argentina smoothly pushed forward the acquisition and consolidation, ICBC Brazil officially opened for business and ICBC Peru obtained the banking license which was opened in February 2014 as the first bank from Asia operating in Peru. In Austrasia, ICBC New Zealand was granted a banking license from the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, becoming the first Chinese bank opening a branch in New Zealand. In the Middle East, ICBC Middle East was upgraded from a subsidiary to a branch under a new license, and its upgraded form known as Dubai International Financial Centre Branch has taken a new look and made a good start in many businesses. In Southeast Asia and South Asia, ICBC accelerated the extension under existing branches. Two remittance centers of Singapore Branch have been functionally upgraded. Puchong Branch and Johor Bahru Branch in Malaysia, and Lahore Market Division under Islamabad Branch were also open for business. In North America, ICBC followed companies going global to expand into local market. Calgary Branch in Canada commenced operation in January 2014, serving the Chinese energy companies investing in Calgary's oil and gas sector. 

While strengthening overseas network, ICBC has shifted international strategy focus to localized, mainstream and differentiated development in recent years. The bank has continued to extend key product lines to foreign markets, creating a series of foreign services such as FX clearing, cross-border RMB settlement, global cash management, investment banking, asset management, precious metal trading and private banking. Driven by this strategy, ICBC achieved breakthrough in multiple key product lines in 2013, with its overseas institutions’ competitiveness significantly enhanced. As at the end of 2013, ICBC had over 3,800 global cash management customers and cross-border RMB transactions approached 5 trillion yuan. As the first yuan clearing bank outside China designated by People's Bank of China, ICBC Singapore Branch cleared over 38,000 RMB transactions worth 2.6 trillion yuan since the launch of clearing service in May last year, significantly supporting the fast and healthy growth of Singapore's offshore RMB market. In London, ICBC issued offshore renminbi-denominated bonds worth RMB 2 billion, representing the first offering in London from the headquarter of a Chinese financial institution. ICBC Singapore also sold 2 billion yuan "Lion City" bonds, marking the first step by a Chinese bank to issue RMB-denominated bond in Singapore.