A rural bank established by the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) opened for business on Thursday, marking the first entry by an international bank into a rural area of China.

The HSBC rural bank in the Cengdu District of Suizhou City in Central China's Hubei Province offers its customers deposit service for local businesses and individuals, and help businesses to raise funds.

With a staff of 22 and an initial capital of 10 million yuan ($1.36 million), the bank, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the HSBC, will also provide trade-related financing and settlement services for export-oriented rural enterprises.

It also plans to provide agriculture-related loans to individual farmers later in 2008.