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Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, the mainland's ninth-largest commercial bank, will open its first branch in Hong Kong next year, according to an official with the bank.

The Shanghai-based bank, in which Citigroup, the world's largest financial services firm is a strategic investor, will open its first business site in Hong Kong in the first half of 2007, said the official on condition of anonymity.

"We will open a branch in Hong Kong so we can better serve our customers," the official said. "In recent years, there have been a growing number of customers, corporate and individual alike, travelling or even moving to Hong Kong."

The domestically-listed bank currently has 24 branches and sub-branches in over 20 first-tier cities in the country, with a total of 328 business network sites.

Pudong Development Bank's move is the latest in an expansion spree for mainland banks in Hong Kong.

Nearly all the top mainland lenders have established branch offices in the city: Bank of China set up Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd; Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has ICBC Asia Ltd; China Construction Bank (CCB) purchased Bank of America's Asian operation to enhance its network in the financial centre of East Asia.

Hong Kong is known as "a place with more banks than rice shops." It has one of the highest concentrations of banking institutions in the world. About 71 of the largest 100 banks in the world have an operation in the city.

Mainland banks will be able to provide cross-border travellers with services that Hong Kong banks cannot, so market potential is pretty high, said May Yan from Moody's Asia Pacific Ltd.

Banks like Shanghai Pudong Development Bank already have a good customer base on the mainland, so targeting customers living in or travelling to Hong Kong is one way to grow, she said.

To fuel its expansion, Pudong Development Bank made 6 billion yuan (US$762 million) from selling 439.9 million A shares on the domestic stock market.

The bank said the newly issued shares accounted for 10 percent of its enlarged share capital.

While mainland banks pave their way to Hong Kong, foreign lenders are struggling to take up as much market share as possible in the world's fastest growing economy.

The world's third-largest bank, HSBC set up a new branch last week in southern China's Guangzhou, to provide services specifically for industrial and commercial enterprises in south China.

Standard Chartered Bank last week signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area to set up a centre there.

The centre, which is expected to open next year, will have a national customer service base to support the bank's renminbi business, according to Standard Chartered.

(China Daily December 15, 2006)