newzealandinc.com Informed. Influential. Indispensable.
Bank of China (NZ) signed MOU with two of New Zealand’s best known companies; Air New Zealand and NZX.
The signing of the memorandum with NZX was included as part of the official state visit to New Zealand this week by China’s President Xi Jinping. Both the Chinese President and John Key witnessed the signing at a function in Karaka, South Auckland.
Bank chairman Chris Tremain says the MoU with NZX is a significant milestone as it marks a strong foundation for joint cooperation and collaboration on a range of issues.
“This is a win-win for both NZX and BoC. We will share information together and explore mutually beneficial cross-border opportunities. It is an exciting time and the scope of cooperation between BoC and NZX will help grow new financial products. It will also support the overall growth of New Zealand companies exporting into the Chinese market and further afield to any of the other 37 nations where BOC has a footprint,” says Chris.
Tremain adds that the bank is very interested in establishing long term partnerships with a range of New Zealand businesses that are interested in expanding their operations in China. The MoUs are the first step with Air New Zealand being another good example of cooperation. “The MoU with Air New Zealand mainly focuses on the global integrated financial services provided by Bank of China including syndication loans, aircraft business cooperation, bond issuance, as well as cross-border RMB settlements. We believe these services will be very advantageous to Air New Zealand as it grows its business into China and other key Asian destinations.”
The Bank of China (NZ) earlier this week announced it had been granted a banking licence by the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. At an official launch ceremony at the Langham Hotel today, the Minister of Trade Hon. Tim Groser and two other Ministers (Hon. Nikki Kaye, Minister of ACC and Hon. Paul Goldsmith, Minister of Commerce) welcomed dignitaries and VIP guests as the Bank officially opened its doors for business.
About Bank of China (http://www.bankofchina.com/nz/ )
Bank of China (BoC) was established in 1912 and until 1949 served as the country’s central bank, international exchange bank and specialised international trade bank. Fulfilling its commitment to serving the public and developing China’s financial services sector, the Bank rose to a leading position in the Chinese financial industry and has an excellent standing in the international financial community.
The Bank’s core business is commercial banking, including corporate banking, personal banking and financial markets services.
After 1949, with a long history as the state-designated specialised foreign exchange and trade bank, the Bank became responsible for managing China’s foreign exchange operations and provided vital support to the nation’s foreign trade development and economic infrastructure through its offering of international trade settlement, overseas fund transfer and other non-trade foreign exchange services. During China’s reform period, the Bank seized the historic opportunity presented by the government’s strategy of capitalising on foreign funds and advanced technologies to boost economic development, and became the country’s key foreign financing channel by building up its competitive advantages in foreign exchange business.
In 1994, the Bank was transformed into a wholly state-owned commercial bank. In August 2004, Bank of China Limited was incorporated. The Bank was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the Shanghai Stock Exchange in June and July 2006 respectively, becoming the first Chinese commercial bank to launch an A-Share and H-Share initial public offering and achieve a dual listing in both markets. In 2014, Bank of China was enrolled again as a Global Systemically Important Bank, becoming the sole financial institution from non-OECD economies to be enrolled for four consecutive years.
As the most internationalized bank in China, the Bank has led the RMB offshore market development, and is becoming the primary channel of RMB cross-border circulation, main driver of RMB internationalisation, and the leader in RMB internationalisation products and services innovation.
The Bank maintained its market leading position in cross-border RMB settlement volume. In 2013, the Bank’s cross-border RMB settlement volume was over RMB3.98 trillion, of which RMB1.77 trillion was attributed to the Bank’s domestic institutions and RMB2.22 trillion was attributed to Hong Kong and other overseas institutions, achieving an overall year-on-year growth rate of 60.2% and the Bank maintained the market leading position. Since China launched its RMB cross-border settlement scheme, the Bank had completed cross-border RMB settlement volume of RMB8.6 trillion. Apart from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, the Bank is also the RMB clearing bank of Malaysia, Luxembourg, Cambodia, Philippines and other countries and regions, and serves as RMB market maker in Russia. In addition, the Bank has become the main RMB clearing channel in countries and regions such as the UK, Germany, France, Australia, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and South Africa.
The Bank has been continuously innovating RMB financial products and improving its cross-border RMB services. The Bank has built a full range of onshore and offshore RMB financial products including RMB trade settlement, clearing, deposit, loans, treasury trade, trade finance, bond, cash management, etc. The Bank has successfully consolidated its position of the main banking channel of RMB global distribution and use.