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Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd (ICBC), the world’s largest lender by market value, opened for business in Mumbai on Thursday,

·         hoping to tap the growing bilateral trade between India and China and to help Chinese infrastructure companies raise funds in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

·         ICBC president Yang Kaisheng said rising Sino-Indian trade and India’s economic performance in the past few years attracted the bank to the country.

“Trade between India and China is growing rapidly at 40% year-on-year and was at $60 billion (Rs.2.87 trillion today) last year,” Yang said. “We would like to facilitate trade and economics between the two countries.”

• Initially, the bank will concentrate on lending to large companies in India.

• The bank applied for a licence in India in April 2010. Subsequently, a memorandum of understanding between the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the China Banking Regulatory Commission in December paved the way for Chinese banks in India.

• RBI officially approved ICBC’s licence in May, making it the first bank from mainland China to open a branch in India.

India’s top public sector banks—State Bank of India (SBI), Bank of India, Bank of Baroda and Canara Bank—all have branches in China.