The Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative has provided new opportunities for foreign banks, according to many foreign bank giants.
In recent years, foreign bank giants have captured the opportunities of the B&R Initiative. HSBC announced on January 4 the establishment of overseas service department for Chinese enterprises in Poland in a bid to assist Chinese and local enterprises to explore business opportunities. Currently, HSBC has participated in nearly 100 B&R Initiative projects.
"In many projects involving the B&R Initiative, we see growing demands from Chinese enterprises and their overseas partners for financial services such as strategic consulting, financing, hedging strategies and liquidity management. Replying on integrated banking services of HSBC and geographical coverage of the overseas service department of Chinese enterprises, we can provide comprehensive financial support for clients' cross-border cooperation," said Liao Yijian, president and chief executive office of HSBC Bank (China).
Recently, Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Ant Financial Services Group. The two sides will give a full display of each other's strengths in serving emerging markets and FinTech to offer more inclusive financial services to clients along the B&R routes. It plans to provide at least 20 billion U.S. dollars worth of financing support for projects related to the B&R Initiative by the end of 2020.
Foreign banks boast many outlets along the B&R routes. For example, SCB has about 1,000 branches and outlets in 65 countries and regions throughout the world. Jose Vinals, chairman of the SCB, noted that the bank will better support Chinese enterprises' business activities along the B&R routes.
Christine Lam, CEO and president of Citibank (China), said the B&R Initiative is a new opportunity for Citibank. Now Citibank provides financial services for 58 countries along the B&R routes. More and more multinational clients are drawing benefits from participating in the B&R Initiative projects.