BOC opens first Taipei branch

Bank of China Ltd, one of China's four banking giants, opened its first Taipei branch on June 27.

BOC said the branch will mainly focus on corporate banking, dealing with deposits, loans, commercial bills, letters of credit, issuance of financial bonds and corporate bonds.

The establishment of the branch marks an important moment of the cross-Straits financial cooperation, said Kuomintang honorary chairman Wu Poh-hsiung.

"Amid the current European debt crisis, I hope the two sides continue to promote the opening-up of the financial industry to each other, and achieve a win-win situation through interaction and cooperation," said Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of the Taipei-based Straits Exchange Foundation.

BOC lent 160 billion yuan ($25.30 billion) to local companies in the last three years.

The bank said it will provide another 220 billion yuan to local companies in the next three years to further facilitate cross-Straits trade and investment.

BOC has established cooperation with 10 local lenders, including Bank of Taiwan and First Commercial Bank.

In July 2010, Bank of China (Hong Kong) Ltd became the renminbi cash clearance bank in Taiwan.