NEW DELHI: The RBI has issued a licence to China’s largest bank to set up operations in India. The Bank of China will soon open a branch here, said sources. This had been one of the commitments made by India during a meeting between Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping in Wuhan and Qingdao.
The 106-year-old bank is one of the biggest lenders in China. It is listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges and has a market capitalisation of $165 billion. This is the second Chinese lender to secure a licence to open a branch in India. In 2011, RBI had granted a banking licence to ICBC, which has opened a branch in Mumbai.
This licence to the second bank comes after China agreed to relax tariffs and other barriers for the import of non-Basmati rice, sugar and pharma products from India, as well as some other countries. Indian officials, though, are only cautiously optimistic, waiting to see how the process unfolds. Bank of China is a bit like what SBI is to India.
The 106-year-old bank is one of the biggest lenders in China. It is listed on the Hong Kong and Shanghai stock exchanges and has a market capitalisation of $165 billion. This is the second Chinese lender to secure a licence to open a branch in India. In 2011, RBI had granted a banking licence to ICBC, which has opened a branch in Mumbai.
This licence to the second bank comes after China agreed to relax tariffs and other barriers for the import of non-Basmati rice, sugar and pharma products from India, as well as some other countries. Indian officials, though, are only cautiously optimistic, waiting to see how the process unfolds. Bank of China is a bit like what SBI is to India.