Bank of China boosts development of Belt and Road

BEIJING, Oct. 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- This is a report from China Daily:

As the Chinese bank with the longest history and highest level of globalized operations, Bank of China has offered strong support for the development of the Belt and Road Initiative.

BOC is a participant, an implementer and also a beneficiary of the initiative. It has played its role in bridging China and other countries and regions involved in the initiative through sustainably growing its operations in participating countries.

One of BOC's commitments to the initiative is ensuring the circulation of capital through expanding and improving its financial network in countries and regions involved.

In September, BOC's branch bank in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, became operational, marking the bank's operations now cover 64 countries and regions overseas, including 44 countries and regions involved in BRI. BOC is now the leading Chinese bank in terms of the number of such countries and regions it serves.

BOC is also committed to assisting the facilitation of trade and investment in those countries and region, promoting the cooperation in the use of currencies of China and those countries and regions for settlements.

Among Chinese banks, it was the first to release the cross-border renminbi index and offshore renminbi index. It has promoted settlement in renminbi in 13 countries and regions worldwide, with an annual settlement volume surpassing 700 trillion yuan ($95.2 trillion).

Through its financial services, BOC has offered crucial support for the construction of key projects in countries and regions involved in the BRI to benefit local economies and residents.

BOC has granted credit to more than 1,000 projects in those countries and regions, with a combined amount surpassing $290 billion.

The landmark projects that have received BOC's financial support include the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Railway in Indonesia, the China-Laos Railway, the port of Chancay in Peru and the Bukhara wind power facility in Uzbekistan — which is the largest single-plant wind power generating project in Central Asia.

BOC is also the leading Chinese financial institution in helping businesses in countries and regions involved in BRI raise funds through issuing Panda Bonds, in terms of market share. Panda Bonds are reminbi-denominated debts sold by overseas issuers in China.

Over the past years, BOC has made many "firsts" in this market, including helping Poland to issue Europe's first Panda Bond in China and assisting Hungary in issuing the first sovereign Panda Bond targeting BRI cooperation.

In addition, the bank has organized a total of 113 business matchmaking events to date to facilitate trade, investment and technological cooperation for companies in China and in other countries and regions involved in BRI.

Another focus of BOC to serve the initiative is promoting international production capacity cooperation.

To date, China has established production capacity cooperation mechanisms with more than 40 countries. BOC has offered services including payment settlements, project financing, equity investment and financial leasing for these cooperative mechanisms.