HSBC opened a rural bank in Hubei Province yesterday to deepen its network in China's developing rural areas.

The rural bank in Tianmen City is London-based HSBC's eighth rural bank in China, extending its rural bank network to 13 including five sub-branches.

The rural bank will offer deposits and loan services to farmers and small businessmen in Tianmen, which is strong in agricultural processing with cotton, oil, pork and grain as its key local products.

"The Tianmen bank is a key step for HSBC to expand its rural bank network in China," said Helen Wong, president and chief executive officer of HSBC Bank (China) Co, yesterday.

The rural bank is the second in Hubei for HSBC which is confident of the province's prospects in agricultural development. The biggest bank in Europe is also strongly represented in China with 102 outlets in cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

China encourages financial companies to set up facilities in its developing rural areas in central and western China.

Citigroup Inc has already set up credit firms in rural China and Standard Chartered has also established its Chinese rural banking network.