DESPITE the rising cost of doing business in Shanghai, foreign financial institutions are busily positioning themselves for the day China allows them to carry out a wider range of banking services.
Although that day may still seem a long way off, it has not deterred Dresdner Bank of Germany from looking at Shanghai and Beijing for its centre in China.
'We have not yet arrived at a final decision but I'm sure we'll have the centre for our China activities in Shanghai,' said Michael Volz-Kjer, general manager of Dresdner Bank's Shanghai branch.
'It's worth having it here because Shanghai is the economic and financial centre of China.' The German banking group soon will open a branch in Shenzhen, a representative office in Guangzhou and has applied to upgrade its Beijing representative office, set up in 1981, to a branch.
Dresdner Bank is among a long list of foreign banks waiting for the go-ahead from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, to set up branches.
'We are the first German bank to open an office in China. What we like is to have a presence in all the major cities, not just in cities where there are German investors, but also in those where foreign investors concentrate,' said Mr Volz-Kjer.
'The decision on where to base the centre has to be made when we get to upgrade our Beijing office.' Should the choice be Shanghai, Dresdner Bank would be the second major foreign financial institution to base its regional centre in the city.
