On June 25 and 26 local time, ICBC unveiled its Hamburg Branch and Berlin Branch successively, filling its blank in the northern part of Germany and dramatically enhancing its market position and financial service ability in the country. By far, ICBC has built a regional network headquartered in Frankfurt and covering five cities where Chinese embassies are stationed: Frankfurt, Dusseldorf, Munich, Berlin and Hamburg.

ICBC Chairman Mr. Jiang Jianqing said at the opening ceremony that China and Germany are both great powers in terms of economic strength, manufacturing and import & export with shared extensive common interests and high complementarity. Sino-Germany cooperation has huge potential in both manufacturing & product trade and service industry & service trade, which lays down a solid ground for financial cooperation between the two countries and also raises new demands for cross-border banking services. ICBC Hamburg Branch and Berlin Branch will provide corporate and personal banking services such as trade finance and euro clearing. for local Chinese-funded enterprises, Chinese nationals in Germany and local German customers, in a bid to become a bridge for China-Germany trade and an outstanding bank enjoying public trust, customer recognition and sound reputation.

Germany is China’s largest trade, investment and technology partner in Europe as well as the largest EU investor in China. Bilateral economic cooperation has become a global model. In 2014, China-Germany bilateral trade volume exceeded USD 170 billion, accounting for 1/3 of total trade between China and Europe. In 2014, China became the largest investor in Germany in terms of number of investment projects for the first time, setting a new record of 190. German economy is characterized by a large volume and geographic scattering. Nearly every state and big city has world-renowned enterprises, and more SMEs are generally located in small and medium-sized cities. In recent years, Chinese enterprises investing in Germany are scattered in all parts of the country. ICBC institutions were mainly clustered in the west and south parts of Germany. The branches in Berlin, the capital of Germany, and Hamburg, the second largest port in Europe and the largest in Germany, will greatly enhance ICBC’s financial service capability in Germany.

ICBC’s institutions in Germany has delivered rapid and healthy growth trend in terms of operational efficiency, business scale, asset quality, risk management, customer service and branch extension by seizing opportunities arising from strong development of China-Germany economic and trade cooperation. As the local tier-1 euro clearing bank, TARGET2 and SEPA member in the euro clearing system, ICBC Frankfurt Branch has been maintaining sound business cooperation relationship with many well-known German enterprises such as T-Systems, Lufthansa Airlines and Siemens. In recent years, ICBC has taken the initiative to adapt to customers’ demands for diversified financial services and firmly followed China’s foreign trade and investment progress to improve its overseas layout, resulting in significant enhancement in its capability of offering global services. So far, the Bank’s overseas network of close to 400 branches and institutions has covered 42 countries and regions. It has become the Chinese financial institution with the widest network coverage in the world at present. Meanwhile, the shareholding in the Standard Bank in South Africa enables the Bank to indirectly reach nearly 20 African countries. The Bank has built a global service network stretching from Asia, Africa, Latin America and Europe to North America and Australia, with remarkably enhanced global service capability.