On October 21st, 2008, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited held a grand opening ceremony in Doha, the capital of Qatar, and formally opens its Doha branch. This is the second business institution opened by ICBC in the Middle East, only one day after the opening of ICBC (Middle East).
Located at Qatar Financial Center (QFC), ICBC Doha branch as a category 1 bank can provide a comprehensive range of financial services, including deposit taking, providing credit facilities, dealing in investments, managing investments, advising on investments, arranging deals in investments, arranging the provision of custody services, etc..
As an important energy exporter in the Middle East, Qatar is endowed with unique geographical advantage, rich resources, and a free and open financial environment. In recent years, China and Qatar have witnessed great development in cooperation in economy, trade, energy and other fields, and have given an effective play to the complementarities between both economies.
In 2007, bilateral trade hit USD 1.21 billion, up by 21% year-on-year. By the end of 2007, the turnover of project contracting and labor cooperation completed by China in Qatar has reached USD 930 million. The rapid development in economic and trade exchanges between the two countries has created urgent needs for both sides to deepen financial cooperation, thus providing an excellent opportunity for ICBC to open a branch in Doha.
Jiang Jianqing, chairman of ICBC, said at the opening ceremony of Doha branch that the branch will join hands with ICBC (Middle East) which opened one day before, make full use of their respective advantages of geographical location, scope of business and clients, and provide clients with long-term, high-quality financial services, in an effort to jointly promote the ICBC's development in the Middle East, and to enhance its regional and global competitiveness.
As China's largest commercial bank, ICBC has a solid client base, advanced IT platform, and diversified products; it maintains a leading position in all the major business areas in China. After share listings in Shanghai and Hong Kong in 2006, its management expertise and profitability have witnessed sharp increase.
In the first half 2008, ICBC realized after-tax profits of USD 9.5 billion, making it the world's most profitable bank. In recent years, under the backdrop of economic integration and financial globalization, taking notice of the huge demand from Chinese enterprises which have adopted the "Going-out" strategy, ICBC has been actively promoting the strategy of internationalization, speeding up the extension of overseas network, widening the field of business, in an effort to enhance the ability of cross-border financial services.
By the end of June 2008, ICBC has extended business institutions to 15 countries and regions, with a total of 126 branches and subsidiary banks, and established correspondent bank relationship with 1360 banks in 122 countries and regions. ICBC has initially formulated a multi-level-structured, reasonably positioned, and efficiently operated global financial service network with diverse channels, which covers major international financial centers, and China's major economic and trade cooperation regions.
