The bank has completed three overseas acquisitions this year and plans to expand its market presence by setting up new overseas branches and merging and acquiring "suitable" foreign banks.

It obtained stakes of lenders in Macao and South Africa earlier this year. According to its president Yang Kaisheng, the bank is also applying to set up new subsidiaries in New York, Dubai, Doha and Sydney.

Guo, the banking professor, warned that the Chinese banks choose a proper market for going out and pay much attention to integration with the local market.

In buying overseas assets, the ICBC favors those in emerging markets where economic growth is faster than developed markets and the banking industry is more open to foreign investments, Yang said.

The "gold rush" move is widely expected to continue, though authorities denied a British Financial Times newspaper report that the state-controlled giants ICBC, BOC and CCB were planning to procure a Standard Chartered stake held by Singapore investment firm Temasek Holdings.

Industry watchers caution that Chinese banks, still toddling in overseas expansion, should have better knowledge of targeted markets and bear in mind risks.