ANZ, one of Australia's largest lenders, announced an agreement with Chongqing government officials on Saturday to establish its first branch in the city.

ANZ will become the tenth foreign bank to open a branch in Chongqing. The move follows ANZ's establishment last September of a 100 percent ANZ-owned rural bank in Liangping County, which lies under the jurisdiction of Chongqing. It was?ANZ's first village bank in China.

As part of the agreement, ANZ has also set out plans to increase the capital of ANZ Rural Bank to 30 million yuan, following local regulatory approvals.

ANZ has been aggressive in its overseas expansion drive, especially in Asia. With ANZ's existing network of 3 foreign bank branches in China, it hopes to continue expansion by establishing more than 20 locally-incorporated outlets.

Luo Guang, Director General of the Chongqing Financial Affairs Office, said, "Chongqing is eager to establish itself as a financial centre of the upper Yangtze River and we welcome ANZ's continued support of our work to expand Chongqing's financial services industry."

According to the agreement, ANZ will deepen its involvement with Chongqing, the economic gateway to southwestern China. Chongqing is one of China's four provincial-level municipalities and the only such municipality in western China.

Other foreign banks that have offices in Chongqing include HSBC, Bank of East Asia and ABN AMRO Bank. According to Luo, another four or five banks are expected to open branches in Chongqing within this year.

Since 2009, loans given out by banks in Chongqing have posted the most rapid growth compared with other areas in China, while keeping a low ratio of non-performing loans at 1.4 percent.