Letter of credit (L/C) availability in China appears to be improving as foreign banks move in to take advantage of foreign currency financing opportunities.

Hong Kong banks are also increasing their presence to take advantage of the general increase in demand for international trade financing on mainland China.

Maybank opening

Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank) recently officially opened its Beijing branch, its second branch on mainland China after Shanghai. Maybank also has a branch in Hong Kong.

The bank is clearly looking for growth opportunities, since Malaysia's bilateral trade with China has been growing at a compound annual rate of over 22 per cent since 2000 to hit US$90 billion in 2011.

Banking services

Maybank Beijing branch will focus on wholesale banking services denominated in foreign currencies, particularly the US dollar.

Services include L/Cs, documentary collections foreign currency loans and advances, foreign currency guarantees, trade financing, foreign currency deposits and project financing.

BEA Opening

Meanwhile, the Bank of East Asia China Limited (BEA China) has opened a new branch in Ningbo, in China's Zhejiang Province.

The bank is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia, which now has more than 100 branches on the Chinese mainland.

Services

BEA China's Ningbo Branch provides Renminbi and foreign currency banking services to its customers.

These include bank guarantees, L/Cs, account and deposit services, loans and advances, bill acceptance and discounting, remittance and settlement, foreign exchange and derivative products.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or any of the other partners in DC-PRO.