OREANDA-NEWS. May 22, 2014. To further enhance the capital strength and RMB comprehensive service capability of its Frankfurt Branch, Bank of China decided to make a capital injection of RMB1 billion into the branch. Frankfurt Branch held a press conference in Berlin, capital city of Germany, briefing domestic and overseas media about the details.

This is by far the largest RMB capital injection into a Chinese-funded bank in the euro zone, which will lay a solid foundation for offshore RMB services for Chinese and German customers.
Chinese Ambassador to Germany Shi Mingde pointed out that RMB internationalization will boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation between the two countries to new levels, and expressed his hope that BOC can play a greater role, and better serve the development of bilateral economic and trade ties and meet the financial demands of customers.

General Manager of Frankfurt Branch Li Guang said that closely following the trend of RMB internationalization and promoting all-round development of the cross-border RMB business is not only a critical measure of BOC for domestic and overseas integrated development, but also the best embodiment of BOC supporting the central government's "going global" strategy. He added that Frankfurt Branch will work closely with all related parties to create a safer and more orderly RMB financial market environment.

BOC has always highly valued and facilitated the development of RMB internationalization business from a strategic perspective. The Bank has now become a key conduit for cross-border use of RMB and a principal provider of global RMB clearing services, and established a global RMB clearing system comprising three clearing models: onshore, cross-border and offshore. BOC has entrenched its position as a RMB clearing bank in Malaysia, Cambodia, Luxembourg, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, among others, and basically built up a RMB integrated clearing network for customers worldwide. In 2013, the Group recorded cross-border RMB settlements amounting to over RMB3.98 trillion, up 60.15% year on year. Since the launch of the cross-border RMB pilot program, the aggregate amount of settlements exceeded RMB8.6 trillion. In 2013 and 2014, BOC staged the world premiere of the "BOC Cross-border RMB Index (CRI)" and the "BOC Offshore RMB Index (ORI)" respectively, which has effectively given a greater say to Chinese banks in the market.

As the only domestic financial enterprise with a century of uninterrupted operations, BOC is the most internationalized and diversified bank in China, with a business scope covering multiple sectors including commercial banking, investment banking, direct investment, investment management, insurance, fund management and leasing, and overseas institutions established in 40 countries and regions. BOC is the only financial institution from emerging economies that has made its way into the list of global systematically important financial institutions for three consecutive years. Besides, it has secured a position among "Fortune Global 500" for 25 straight years, and is ranked 9th among global banks by capital strength, with key financial indicators attaining the level of international advanced banks. By the end of March 2014, total assets of BOC have reached RMB15.11 trillion.

Frankfurt Branch, founded in May 1989, is the first branch set up in Germany by a Chinese-funded bank. It holds the license for comprehensive banking businesses and engages in all the business permitted under the German Banking Act. At present, Frankfurt Branch controls three tier-2 branches in Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Berlin, and has a working group in Munich, with around 200 employees in total.