29th October, 2020 - The Bank of East Asia (China) Limited (“BEA China”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Bank of East Asia, Limited (“BEA”), announces the official launch of its centenary celebration campaign “A New Journey for the Next Century”. As part of the campaign, BEA China will unveil a mini-movie, a television commercial highlighting its historical development, and a series of Corporate Social Responsibility (“CSR”) initiatives, to commemorate BEA’s developments and achievements in the Chinese Mainland market over the past century, and move forward to its vision becoming best localised foreign bank in the market.
“Incorporated in Hong Kong in 1918 with the aim of striving to help China achieve wealth and power, BEA has operated continuously on the Mainland since the establishment of the first branch in Shanghai in 1920.” noted Mr. Montgomery Ho Shun-wah, Executive Director & Chief Executive of BEA China, “With a unique position to benefit from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao cooperation, as well as rich experience in cross-border trade and finance, we will take full advantage of BEA Group's extensive overseas network to provide customers with a series of cross-border financial solutions, including overseas accounts and settlement, and overseas financing, to support Mainland companies investing abroad and overseas companies entering the Mainland market.”
As one of the first foreign banks to enter the Mainland, BEA led the way in introducing advanced financial services to Chinese Mainland in 1980s and 1990s, with offerings such as real estate mortgage loans and credit cards. In 2007, BEA’s wholly-owned subsidiary, BEA China, became one of the first locally-incorporated foreign banks on the Mainland, later developing steadily in the market and pioneering a number of innovative services in industry. For example, BEA China was the first foreign bank on the Mainland to issue RMB debit cards, credit cards and IC debit cards; the first foreign bank to issue RMB retail bonds in Hong Kong; one of the first foreign banks to open a sub-branch in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade; and the first foreign bank to launch a 5G intelligent bank branch in Chinese Mainland.
In September 2020, BEA China proactively participated in the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services to support liberalisation of trade and investment, and to facilitate and promote the opening-up, cooperation, prosperity and development of global trade in services. In addition, as one of the first batch of foreign banks to cooperate with leading Internet platforms and develop mobile finance on the Mainland, BEA China will continue to proactively accelerate digital transformation, with a focus on seizing cross-selling opportunities, and providing customers with better quality and more convenient services and products.
Meanwhile, BEA Charity Fund, jointly founded by BEA China and the Shanghai Soong Ching Ling Foundation, has reached 27 provinces and autonomous regions across the country with a number of CSR initiatives, benefiting hundreds of thousands of teachers and students in rural areas. In early 2020, BEA China donated RMB 3 million in support of the fight against the outbreak of COVID-19.
BEA now focuses on the national strategic layout, such as the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (“GBA”), and fully taps business opportunities there. It has developed diversified businesses in the area including banking, securities, asset management, and information services, and was the first foreign bank to be approved to open a full branch in Qianhai. With the launch of more policies in support of GBA development, the cooperation between the Mainland and Hong Kong and Macao will further deepen, bringing more development opportunities. BEA China is fully leveraging the advantages of its extensive network that fully covers all major Mainland cities in the GBA to promote cross-border finance, trade financing, financial management, and other businesses, striving to provide professional and comprehensive financial services to enterprises and individuals in the area.
In the future, BEA China will continue to focus on long-term development strategies, keep up with the pace of economic development on the Mainland, and leverage the Bank Group's strength as an integrated financial services group with a global reach to steadily grow its business and provide customers with more high quality banking products and services.
