WESTPAC Banking Corp, Australia's fourth-biggest lender, got regulatory approval to open a branch in Shanghai, where it plans to operate by the end of 2007. The Shanghai outlet allows Westpac to offer products to Australian and Chinese customers doing business in the world's fastest-growing major economy, said Phil Chronican, head of Westpac's institutional bank, in a statement yesterday.

Westpac follows HSBC Holdings Plc, Citigroup Inc, Standard Chartered Plc and Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia Ltd, now the largest overseas banks in China which have more than 90 branches between them.