Chinese banking giant ICBC rides high on Mideast boom

 　　DUBAI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- China's biggest lender Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) said here Saturday that its Middle Eastearn branch achieved in 2012 a pre-tax profit of 54 million U.S. dollars, up 69 percent year on year, while its total assets increased 29 percent to 4 billion U.S. dollars.

　　ICBC, the world's biggest bank in terms of market capital, added that the Chinese RMB's trade volume reached 2.25 billion U.S. dollars, while greenback transactions in the interbank money market were up 718 percent last year to hit 11.07 billion U.S. dollars. The total liabilities reached 3.81 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 28 percent over 2011.

　　Tian Zhiping, regional CEO of Dubai-based ICBC Middle East, said that 2012 was another year of strong growth for them the company continued to benefit from its regional franchise¹ and unique position as a bridge for trade and investment between the Middle East and China. "We have taken part in important syndications and witnessed growing volumes of RMB transactions, all of which added to our business growth."

　　ICBC said its subsidiary in Dubai, as well as branches in Abu Dhabi and Doha of Qatar, contributed to the strategic expansion of the bank's Middle Eastern business. ICBC also provides project financing to the increasing number of Chinese businesses operating in the Middle East.

　　In the United Arab Emirates alone over 3,000 Chinese businesses run branches. Global consultancy McKinsey and Company predicts that bilateral² trade between China and the Middle East will reach between 350 billion U.S. dollars and 500 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, with the Gulf³ Arab states, most of them major oil suppliers, accounting⁴ for the lion's share of the trade.

　　As one of its latest achievements, ICBC signed a memorandum⁵ of understanding with Qatar Holding, the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar's ruling family Althani, to boost bilateral cooperation and investments between Qatar and China. Qatar has won the bid to host the FIFA World Championships in 2022 and will invest by 2015 some 120 billion U.S. dollars to upgrade the country's infrastructure⁶.

　　On the outlook for 2013, Tian said ICBC Middle East will continue to focus on commercial banking⁷, while aiming to "develop investment banking and asset management services."

　　In addition, the chief executive said ICBC hopes the Kuwait and Riyadh branches join the lender's Gulf Arab net work within this year.

1 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 accounting   

n.会计，会计学，借贷对照表

参考例句：

• A job fell vacant in the accounting department.财会部出现了一个空缺。
• There's an accounting error in this entry.这笔账目里有差错。

5 memorandum   

n.备忘录，便笺

参考例句：

• The memorandum was dated 23 August,2008.备忘录上注明的日期是2008年8月23日。
• The Secretary notes down the date of the meeting in her memorandum book.秘书把会议日期都写在记事本上。

6 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

7 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。