​Foreign banks speed up layouts in Chinese market

Updated: March 4, 2021 Source: Xinhua Silkroad
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A view of the Lujiazui area in Shanghai, east China, Oct. 15, 2019. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Multiple foreign banks plan to increase presence in China in 2021 following their impressive performance in the Chinese market in 2020, reported Shanghai Securities News Wednesday.

In 2020, 81 percent of the overall pre-tax profit of Standard Chartered Bank was generated in China and North Asia. Its operating revenue and basic operating profit before impairment and taxation in China increased by 6 percent and 26 percent, respectively.  

During this period, driven by the Chinese market, UBS has seen its pre-tax profit rise by 47 percent year on year to 8.226 billion U.S. dollars, operating income (excluding credit loss expenses) up 14 percent, and net profit attributable to shareholders up 54 percent year on year to 6.629 billion U.S. dollars.

The Deutsche Bank realized a net profit of 624 million euros in 2020, with pre-tax profit standing at one billion euros.

The Chinese market is playing an increasingly crucial role for foreign banks on their global map.

HSBC Group recently declared that it planned to recruit more than 5,000 wealth management talents in the following five years to provide stronger support to clients in China and Singapore, including 3,000 wealth planning consultants in the mainland of China.

The group plans to expand its private banking business in the Chinese mainland to ten cities over the next five years, said Greg Hingston, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking for Asia Pacific, HSBC.

Editor: 王予