RBI grants licence to Bank of China to set up branch in India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a commitment to Chinese President Xi Jinping to allow Bank of China to set up branches in India when they met on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Chinese city of Qingdao last month.

India and China have been focusing on expanding their economic ties notwithstanding differences on several sticky issues, including the boundary dispute.

In fact, both the countries have stepped up dialogue at various levels to reset the ties after last year’s Doklam standoff.

Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe is also scheduled to visit India soon and both sides are in the process of finalising the dates.

Bank of China was formally established in February 1912 following the approval of Sun Yat-sen, when he establisihed a nationalist government in China, following the abdication of Emperor Puyi of the Qing Dynasty. From 1912 to 1949, the Bank also served as the country’s central bank, international exchange bank and specialised international trade bank.

After 1949, drawing on its 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 by its offering of international trade settlement, overseas fund transfer and other non-trade foreign exchange services. D

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 2016, Bank of China was again designated as a Global Systemically Important Bank, thus becoming the sole financial institution from emerging economies to be designated as a Global Systemically Important Bank for six consecutive years.

As China’s most internationalised and diversified bank, Bank of China provides a comprehensive range of financial services to customers across the Chinese mainland as well as 51 countries and regions.