HSBC Beijing Branch First to Launch RMB Services

HSBC's Beijing branch formally launched services based on the Chinese renminbi currency on March 18, reportedly the first foreign bank to offer such services in Beijing.

Justin Ting, HSBC's Beijing branch manager was quoted as saying that HSBC will expand its network by opening a sub-branch. The Beijing News said HSBC will maintain its leading position among foreign banks; it was also the first foreign bank that applied for the business last year and was among the first batch of foreign banks that received China Banking and Regulatory Commission approval to prepare for the business on December 21, 2004.

The Beijing Times also quoted Ting as saying that its renminbi business offerings will include: deposits, loans, buying and selling government bonds and financial bonds, letters of credit and bank guarantees, interbank lending, foreign exchange. 

Although HSBC currently cannot provide renminbi-based services to Chinese individuals, the Beijing Youth Daily quoted Yu Qixiang, secretary of the Beijing Bankers Association, as saying that the renminbi business is "a piece of delicious cake," because more than 90 percent of a domestic banks' business is conducted in the renminbi, and 80 percent-90 percent of its renminbi business is corporate business. The newspaper said that many other foreign banks including Standard Chartered Bank and Citibank have also applied to supply services in the renminbi.