Zhang Zhaoxing, Chairman of Yuexiu Group and Chong Hing Bank, said in his speech that Yuexiu Group owns in the financial sector over RMB120 billion in total assets, runs several domestic and overseas platforms for financial services such as banking, securities, financial lease, industrial fund, financial guarantee and microcredit, and has built a banking and securities centered international financial holding network. Since it joined Yuexiu Group at the beginning of 2014, Chong Hing Bank has redefined its strategic orientation, achieved substantial growth in major business indices and made great breakthroughs in key works. After Guangzhou and Foshan sub-branches were approved and set up as scheduled within the year, Chong Hing Bank has had a favorable start for business expansion from Hong Kong and Guangdong to the whole country. Chong Hing Bank will, in the future, make use of the opening of Foshan Sub-branch and its advantage in cross-border operation to provide enterprises in Foshan with high quality and more practical cross-border comprehensive financial services and become the first option for customers in Foshan who may need cross-border financing.
Vice-chairwoman Margaret May Yee Ko Leung said in her speech that Chong Hing Bank, as a Hong Kong based bank with overseas status as well as a State ownership background, values highly of the business development in inland China, the Pearl Delta in particular, under the circumstance of Renminbi internationalization and CEPA background. The opening of Guangzhou and Foshan sub-branches is the starting point of domestic business development and Chong Hing Bank will exert its cross-border advantage to provide customers with all-round cross-border comprehensive financial services, share fruits with customers and grow with them, and become an important bridge for Guangzhou and Foshan enterprises to go overseas and to raise fund across the border. Meanwhile, Chong Hing Bank will continue to improve its network on the Pearl Delta in 2015 and, in particular, accelerate the establishment of branches in Guangdong Free Trade Zone.
The Foshan Sub-branch in Dongping New Town, the future CBD center in Chancheng District, Foshan, is the second sub-branch that Chong Hing Bank has set up in Guangdong Province after Guangzhou Sub-branch. It will take advantage of Chong Hing Bank Hong Kong Headquarters’ comprehensive financial services and cross-border financial services as well as Yuexiu Group’s powerful presence in Guangdong and Hong Kong to provide corporate customers and banking customers with Guangdong-Hong Kong cross-border comprehensive financial services and grow together with Foshan enterprises through “professional services, profiting through finance”.
Background Data: Chong Hing Bank was incorporated in 1948 and went public in 1994 inHong Kong Exchange (Share Code: 01111). It is now one of the composition shares in Hang Seng Index. Chong Hing Bank has headquarters and 51 local branches in Hong Kong, several branches in Shantou, Macau and San Francisco, sub-branches in Guangzhou and Foshan and a representative office in Shanghai. As a comprehensive license holder, Chong Hing Bank is able to provide retail and wholesale banking services, holds licenses for securities, commodity futures, investment and insurance, and is qualified for RQFII. On February 14, 2014, Yuexiu Group purchased 75% shares and became the controlling shareholder of Chong Hing Bank. This is the first time in 27 years in Hong Kong that a non-banking financial institution has acquisitioned a Hong Kong local bank, the first ever inland local State enterprise has accomplished an acquisition of an overseas bank, and the largest overseas acquisition that Guangzhou has ever effected since the reform and opening-up drive. The acquisition has logged on Hong Kong’s Top10 Economic News in 2013 and China’s Top10 Merger & Acquisition in 2013, creating a far-reaching impact at home and abroad. On October 30, 2014, Chong Hing Bank Guangzhou Sub-branch was officially inaugurated. By the end of 2014, Guangzhou Sub-branch has registered over RMB5 billion in deposit and a credit volume of nearly RMB 1 billion, showing a strong momentum in business development.