Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), the country's third-largest lender, announced yesterday that it had moved its credit card center to Shanghai from Beijing to take advantage of the eastern city's more open investment environment.

 

ABC, the only one of the country's "Big Four" state-owned banks that has not received a capital injection from the government, has reportedly submitted its revised restructuring plan to the State Council. Its president, Yang Mingsheng, said yesterday the bank has not set a timetable for launching an initial public offering.

 

Yang said the relocation to Shanghai was aimed at enhancing the bank's brand value and image as a credible player in the highly competitive personal banking sector.

 

The move is also seen as giving Shanghai yet another boost as the nation's premier financial center and banking hub.

 

"Shanghai is building itself as an international financial hub which will help promote our card internationally," Yang said at the new credit card center's opening ceremony. "The city presents us with an international platform and a place with an excellent talent pool and combined information for production, research and development," he added.

 

ABC, with total assets amounting to 5.2 trillion yuan (US$650 billion), has issued a total of 240 million bank cards - including credit cards - worldwide. At the end of the third quarter the number of cards issued leapt 552 percent from a year earlier and 110 percent from the beginning of 2006. Total revenue from credit card business soared almost seven times compared with 2005. .

 

ABC has an extensive group of clients but in particular small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), Yang said. "We will rely on SMEs to expand our card business."

 

Beijing-based ABC has been attempting to push its image as a commercial player.

 

The China Securities Journal reported earlier this month that the lender has submitted its revised restructuring plan to the State Council.

 

It has been sticking to the plan to list the whole company as breaking up the sprawling bank for restructuring could prove risky, said Han Zhongqi, the bank's vice-president. Han added the lender will kick off restructuring after spinning off its losses and will follow up with moves to bring in foreign strategic investors.?

 

The government may inject US$100 billion into the bank, the Xinhua News Agency has said. The lender reported a 35 percent surge in operating profit in the first nine months of 2006 as an expanding economy boosted income from interest and fee-based services. Operating profit rose 11 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) to 42.6 billion yuan (US$5.4 billion).

 

(China Daily November 22, 2006)