Enter the Dragon:
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China tip toes into India
China took its first cautious step in entering India's banking
market. On Monday, 23 May 2011, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the
opening of a branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC),
China's largest bank. ICBC's branch is expected to begin operations in six
months.
ICBC had formally made an application after Chinese Premier
Wen Ji Bao's India visit in December 2010. This is not ICBC's first foreign
operations. ICBC, where U S investment bank Goldman Sachs holds a 3 per cent
stake, already has presence in the US, Europe and Asia. This is however, the first
time after a Communist government took control in 1949 that a Chinese bank has
made a presence in India.
The RBI approval for an ICBC branch in the country was more
in the nature of reciprocity. Four Indian banks --– State bank of India, Punjab
National Bank, Bank of India, Canara Bank and Allahabad Bank – already have
branch presence in Shenzen, Shanghai and Beijing. Some more Indian banks are awaiting
approvals for opening either representative offices or branches in China.
