China Minsheng Banking Corp. announced on Saturday that the China Banking Regulatory Commission had approved its proposal to buy 4.9 percent of the U.S.-based UCBH Holdings.

The deal involved 95 million U.S. dollars and the mid-sized bank had completed the remittance approval procedure in the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, it said in a statement.

China Minsheng announced in October last year that by June 2008 it would take up to a 20-percent stake in UCBH, the holding company of the U.S.-based United Commercial Bank, which primarily serves Chinese communities and American companies doing business in China.

The deal marks the first strategic investment in a banking institution in the United States by a Chinese mainland bank, said a statement from UCBH Holdings.

The purchase is expected to help China Minsheng improve its asset management and develop a full range of financial services.

Shares of China Minsheng closed 1.41 percent higher at 13.71 yuan on Friday in Shanghai.

(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2008)