Spain's La Caixa to go deeper into Chinese banking market
La Caixa, the third largest lender in Spain, will expand its business in the Chinese market in spite of the global economic slowdown, said Juan Maria Nin, the bank's president and CEO, during a visit to Shanghai over the weekend, the Shanghai Daily reported.
La Caixa, which opened an office in Beijing in 2006, has applied to set up an office in Shanghai to expand its global business, said Nin.
He said that the time was perfect for the Spanish lender to advance further into China, which has a strong economic growth potential. In the first quarter, the country reported a better-than-expected GDP growth of 6.1%.
Nin added that now is a good time for La Caixa to invest in China since the nation's banking industry is flourishing.
La Caixa, the largest shareholder of Bank of East Asia (BEA)<0023>, in which it holds a 9.9% stake, currently has no plans to buy into any Chinese banks, according to Nin, but intends to sign another agreement with BEA.
Nin indicated that La Caixa hopes to maintain a long-term, stable relationship with BEA.
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