Bank of East Asia launches rural bank in China

The rural lender to provide deposit taking, agriculture-related lending and capital settlement services to rural residents and SMEs.

The Bank of East Asia Limited, the third-largest bank in Hong Kong, December 14 announced operation of Shaanxi Fuping BEA Rural Bank Corp., its first rural bank in China.

The Bank of East Asia is also the first overseas lender established a rural bank in Shaanxi, a province in northwestern China.

Shaanxi Fuping BEA Rural Bank Corp. has a registered capital of CNY 20 million and 16 employees currently. Fuping is located in the middle of the province and it is the largest county there in terms of 780,000 people as of last year end.

The rural bank will primarily serve agriculture, rural areas and rural residents as well as small and medium companies. It will initially focus on the businesses such as deposit taking, agriculture-related lending and capital settlement, according to Raymond Chang, executive vice president of the Bank of East Asia (China) Ltd.

View the full story in Trading Markets.