Taiwan's Fubon to boost China foray with HK branch

Fubon Financial Holding aims to boost its presence in China through its Hong Kong branch in Hong Kong as a bargaining chip.

“Our ambition in China goes beyond owning shares in Xiamen Bank,” said Fubon president Victor Kung.

The group owns a 20 percent stake in China’s Xiamen City Commercial Bank. But it is in strategic partnership talks to push its service network beyond the southeastern coastal province of Fujian.

Fubon is mulling trading shares in its Hong Kong banking branch for easier and quicker access to the Chinese market, Kung said.

“We deem the Hong Kong branch as a valuable asset and plan to use it as a bargaining chip to trade partnerships that would allow us to further tap into the Chinese market,” Kung said.

He added that branch has been actively pursued by Chinese financial institutions intent on gaining a foothold in the special administrative region.

In addition, Fubon Financial is in talks with a Chinese city-level lender for potential joint ventures through share investment or other channels, Kung said. He refused to name potential partners in either case.

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