Recently, Citigroup China opened its first finance company geared to the needs of the countryside.
This is the first time that a foreign-funded bank has started a new company in China in the form of a finance company. One after another, foreign-funded banks are going to the countryside, and are marching full of confidence into the rural finance market.
Foreign-funded banks trying to grab their piece of the rural finance market has become a beautiful scene in China's financial market. On December 13, 2007, Hong Kong & Shanghai Banking Corp (HSBC) opened a village and town branch in Suizhou of Hubei Province, leading the way for foreign-funded banks to enter the rural market.
After this, HSBC set up two more village and town branches successively in Dazu of Chongqing Municipality and Yong'an of Fujian Province, and is pushing ahead with village and town branches in Miyun of Beijing Municipality and Enping of Jiangmen in Guangdong Province.
In addition to this, Standard Chartered Bank established a village and town branch in Horinger of Inner Mongolia. It is in these circumstances that other foreign-funded banks, including Citigroup, are refusing to be left behind and are falling over each other to make their way to the countryside.
According to statistics, by the end of 2007 there were 2,686 villages and towns with no financial institution and 8,901 villages and towns with only one financial banking network. This adds up to a total of approximately 12,000 villages and towns, out of a total of 60,000 in China. According to rough calculations, the financial services of approximately one fifth or one quarter of the nation are inadequate. These areas are mainly concentrated in the mid-west region.
By People's Daily Online
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article