ANZ pins high hopes on first Chinese rural bank

The inauguration of ANZ's first rural branch in China aims to cement its position of being Australia's highest earning bank from its Asian operations.

The move is the first by an Australian bank and one of the first by any non-Chinese bank, Melbourne-based ANZ said in a report in Bernama.

ANZ opened its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chongqing Liangping ANZ Rural Bank, and is working towards obtaining Chinese incorporation in early 2010, which would enable it to provide a broad range of services to local customers and expand its branch network.

This would help cement ANZ's position as generating the highest revenue from Asia of all Australian banks.

"Establishing a rural bank is a further demonstration of our commitment to contribute to the economic development of China and to invest to become a top four foreign banks in this strategically important market,'' ANZ chief executive Mike Smith said.

The Liangping branch will add to the branches ANZ already has in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and its 19.9 percent stake in the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank and 20 percent holding in the Bank of Tianjin.