Standard Chartered, China Merchants sign One Belt, One Road agreement
Banks in Hong Kong and China are looking for commercially viable projects in which to invest as part of the Beijing initiative
Standard Chartered and Shenzhen based China Merchants Bank signed a “One Belt One Road” cooperation agreement on Tuesday to work together to provide financial services to projects and activities related to the Chinese government’s flagship scheme.
Areas in which the two banks will cooperate will include project financing, renminbi internationalisation and bilateral investment treaties for multinational corporations, according to a statement.
“With this partnership, we will be able to expand our offerings and leverage Standard Chartered’s network and franchise capabilities to better support our clients’ growth plans,” said Li Gongzheng, China Merchants’ deputy general manager of financial institutions.
Standard Chartered’s global head of banks, Anurag Bajaj, said there was an estimated US$1 trillion in financing needs for the next decade in One Belt One Road countries.
Banks in Hong Kong and mainland China are looking for new areas for profit opportunities as their traditional drivers of growth are slowing. In its review last week of mainland banks’ performance in the first half of this year, PwC identified the One Belt One Road initiative as being a “major opportunity for China’s banking industry”.
“It is still very early days, but I would expect that every bank in Hong Kong would consider getting involved in One Belt One Road projects,” Citic International Bank’s first vice president Liao Qun told the South China Morning Post.