Two of the main lenders in the Sichuan province area are teaming up to provide greater financial support to the regional economy.
Bank of Chongqing (重庆银行) and Bank of Chengdu (成都银行) recently executed the “Framework Agreement on Jointly Servicing the Chengdu-Chongqing Region, Establishing a Twin City Economic Zone and Strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Cooperation” (共同服务成渝地区双城经济圈建设 加强全面战略合作框架协议).
The signing of the Agreement coincided with the holding of a conference on financial services in the Chongqing-Chengdu area and the establishment of a twin city economic area that was convened by the Chongqing office of the Chinese central bank.
According to the conference the creation of a twin-city economy comprised of Chongqing and Chengdu will “bring major historic opportunities for high-quality growth to Sichuan and Chongqing, and even all of western China.”
The conference called for regional financial institutions to deepen cooperation as well as product innovation, with an especial focus on the strategic targets of the “two centres and two lands” (两中心两地).
Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province, while Chongqing municipality is a province-level administrative entity which is distinct from Sichuan province, but originally comprised a key part of it until 1997.
An executive from Bank of Chongqing said that the two banks played an irreplaceable support role in supporting the economic and social growth of the region.
“The establishment of the Chengdu-Chongqing Twin City Economic Zone has been upgraded into a national-level strategy, becoming the major opportunity jointly faced by both Bank of Chongqing and Bank of Chengdu, and an historic responsibility that they jointly bear.”
Under the agreement the two banks will cooperate across a total of 12 areas, including:
- Syndicated loans,
- Small and micro-finance,
- Trade settlement and financing,
- Client recommendations,
- Interbank credit,
- Bond operations,
- Wealth management operations,
- Counter-connections,
- Mortgages,
- Shared channels.
Bank of Chongqing was first established in 1996, and is one of the first regional joint-stock banks launched in western China, as well as the first municipal commercial bank to be listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Bank of Chengdu was established in the same year as Bank of Chongqing, and is a regional joint-stock bank whose primary owner is the Chinese government.
Bank of Chengdu is the first bank from Sichuan province to be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE) as well as one of eight A-share municipal commercial banks, and its strategic cooperative partners include Hong Leong Bank from Malaysia.
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