National Bank of Pakistan eyes setting up a branch in China

The Pakistan-China friendship keeps getting stronger.

The Chinese government will soon grant a preparatory license to the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) for setting up a branch in China. The main purpose of setting up an NBP branch in China would be to accelerate the CPEC activities that are currently underway.

The National Bank of Pakistan submitted a formal letter back in May, citing their interest in setting up a branch in China. While that letter has been accepted, the NBP has now submitted another application seeking a preparatory license which would allow them to start building the branch in China. The bank is hopeful that they will receive the license latest by October this year. Once the bank receives the license they will then be given nine months time to set up the branch in China.

It should be noted here that NBP already has a small presence in China, where they established a representative office in 1981. But the bank thinks that a full-fledged branch would be more effective. Other Pakistani banks including Askari Bank, Allied Bank, United Bank, and Bank Al-Habib are providing banking services to Chinese organizations and corporate institutions based in Pakistan while Habib Bank Limited has already set up a branch in China.

National Bank of Pakistan has 25 international branches in countries across Asia, Europe, and North America.