BNP Paribas, a French banking group, has got permission to set up joint-venture investment bank in Beijing, being the first foreign investment bank allowed in China after the nation's WTO entry, according to China Economic Times. While BNP says this is a milestone in investment bank industry.
BNP chose Wuhan-based Changjiang Securities Corp. Ltd as its partner, and Haier, China's biggest electronic group, will become a major shareholder of the joint venture.
This is a signal that China is willing to open its investment bank business, financial experts say. More agreements may be reached soon, for China Industrial and Commercial Bank is seeking for foreign partners who have branches in Hong Kong, and Bank of China is exercising similar strategy via its HK branches.
Most Chinese companies in Hong Kong and New York are controlled by China International Capital Corporation Limited (CICC), a joint venture established in 1995 by China Construction Bank and Morgan Stanley International Incorporated. The cooperation remains firm due to remarkable yielding of profits.
BNP's joint venture may still under the control of CICC, but its shareholder Haier Group would bring many businesses for it.
(People's Daily March 8, 2002)
