Standard Chartered Bank Group CEO stresses broad business prospects in China thanks to innovation, opening up

BEIJING - As China's high-tech sector thrives and Chinese firms continue to explore opportunities overseas, the China-related business of Standard Chartered Bank has seen a robust growth and enjoys broad prospects, said Bill Winters, group CEO of the banking corporation.

Winters made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua ahead of the China Development Forum 2025 running from Sunday to Monday in Beijing.

"Some spectacular advances in the technology sector in particular add a lot to the sentiment around investment in the country," said Winters, who recently visited leading tech firms in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang province.

"Chinese companies are extremely advanced in the development of AI large language models and the AI tools that are built around them," said Winters, highlighting the rapid pace of such tools being embedded into everyday life.

While Standard Chartered is a customer of these high-tech firms in the fintech sector, the banking group also provides them with lending services and helps with their exports and expansion into overseas markets, Winters said.

Standard Chartered's operations in China have benefited from the opening up of the country's financial market and the internationalization of the renminbi (RMB), Winters said.

"We have participated very actively in the internationalization of the RMB and the opening-up of the Chinese capital markets," Winters said.

The bank set up the first newly-approved wholly foreign-owned securities firm in China since the country lifted foreign ownership caps in the sector in 2020.

"China's opening-up process has been steady. There are sets of concrete actions that have made it easier for international investors to invest in RMB-denominated instruments in China or offshore and for Chinese companies to invest with increasing ease internationally," Winters said.

Winters pledged continued efforts of Standard Chartered to help make the RMB an easier currency to hold and manage, and help international investors invest in China more conveniently.