China Construction Bank Corporation (CCB) announced in Hong Kong Monday that it would launch joint credit card business with Bank of America (BOA) in order to further develop CCB's credit card business and expedite its robust growth.

CCB Chairman Guo Shuqing told a press conference here that its board of directors had approved a Memorandum of Understanding between CCB and BOA, which outlines the two parties' future cooperation in credit card business.

He said that the cooperation would be implemented in two stages, including the establishment of a credit card business unit first and then a joint venture.

CCB will first establish an independent and centralized credit card business unit and BOC will dispatch personnel to provide consulting services to the unit.

In the second stage, the credit card business unit will be converted into a sino-foreign credit card joint venture registered in China. CCB will hold an interest of 63 percent in the joint venture and BOC 37 percent. The interest of both parties will be subject to a lockup period of no less than three years.

"The proposed cooperation is subject to shareholder approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting of CCB," Guo said.

Since CCB first launched its dual-currency credit cards in 2003, its credit card business has been developing rapidly. By the end of 2006, CCB had issued a total of 6.34 million credit cards, with a market share of about 20 percent in China.

Source: Xinhua