VTB Bank opened its first China branch in Shanghai yesterday to ride on rising trade between China and Russia.
The bank is the first Russian bank to foray into China's banking market. The second biggest bank in Russia set up the Shanghai branch with a registered capital of 200 million yuan (US$27.9 million).
"Shanghai is the major economic and commercial city in China - that's why we set up the branch here,'' said Andrei Kostin, VTB Bank chairman and chief executive officer yesterday in Shanghai.
The bank will keep its Beijing representative office which it set up two decades ago. The Shanghai branch will first offer foreign currency business to corporate clients involved in cross-border transactions between China and Russia. The bank also eyes yuan services in the future.
An overseas bank can start yuan services after three straight years of operation and two straight years of profitable operation.
The bank also has plans to issue the UnionPay card so its clients can draw cash at ATMs in China. UnionPay card holders can draw local currency at VTB's ATMs in Russia.