The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC Bank Group) said Tuesday that it will begin retail and corporate banking operations under the banner The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Canada) in Canada.

ICBC (Canada) will provide a business platform for the Bank Group to expand into the Canadian market and, along with its New York branch, further strengthen the Bank Group's North American presence.

In January of this year, the ICBC Bank Group completed the acquisition of 70 percent of The Bank of East Asia (BEA Canada).

With the announcement on Tuesday, all former BEA (Canada) branches, four in Toronto and two in Vancouver, will be converted to offices of ICBC (Canada). The new ICBC (Canada) will have a client base of around 10,000 retail and corporate customers.

Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the ICBC Bank Group, noted that Canada was one of the most important markets in the world. "One of Canada's strengths is the country's advanced and prudent financial regulatory system. With such a network in place, I am confident in the growth opportunities for our Canadian subsidiary in the years to come," he told Xinhua.

The launch of ICBC (Canada) marks the beginning of the expansion of the Bank Group's branch network in Canada. The bank will capitalize on the group's cutting edge information technology platform to bring its new online banking system to Canadian customers.

(Xinhua News Agency July 7, 2010)