Bank of China, Bucharest branch, an engine for accelerating Romanian-Chinese cooperation

By Andra Beltz
On December 16, 2019, the Bank of China (“BOC” or “Bank”) organized, at the Parliament Palace, the opening ceremony of Bank of China, the Bucharest branch.
The representatives of the National Bank of Romania, the political officials, Jiang Yu, extraordinary and plenipotentiary ambassador of the People’s Republic of China in Romania, and Liu Liange, the chairman of the Board of Directors of Bank of China were present.
The President Liu Liange said that, in recent years, the “Belt and Road” Initiative and the cooperation mechanism “17 + 1” have represented extensive platforms for collaboration and exchanges between China and Romania, with an important potential for infrastructure cooperation, regional connectivity. and other areas. With the opening of the Bucharest branch as a new beginning, the BOC will collaborate with Chinese and Romanian partners from all social categories to contribute even more to promoting economic prosperity and strengthening cultural exchanges between the two countries.
The China-Romania relations have entered a new phase of comprehensive and rapid development, and Sino-Romanian economic and commercial cooperation has shown an upward trend: in 2018, the volume of bilateral trade between China and Romania reached a level of 6.68 billion dollars, up 19.3% from the previous year. China is Romania’s seventh largest trading partner and fifth largest importer. The negotiations on the project for the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant were organized in an orderly fashion, the Power Construction Corporation of China successfully won the tender for the Iasi Highway Maintenance Project, the large infrastructure companies in China were actively participating in the tender for major projects in Romania, the telecommunications companies are fully committed to the development and construction of the local communications industry, the Chinese companies in Romania have made a positive contribution to the economic and social development of Romania and to the economic and commercial cooperation between China and Romania.
Established in 1912, the Bank of China is the only bank that has been operating continuously for more than a century and also the most globalized and integrated bank in China. It currently has branches in 60 countries and regions around the world, including 25 countries along the New Silk Road, making it the largest bank in the world, both in the world and in the world. along the New Silk Road initiative. In 2019, the Bank was ranked 4th in the “Top 1000 Greatest Banks in the World” ranking by The Banker and was again designated Global Bank of Systemic Importance, thus becoming the only financial institution in an emerging economy that has has been designated a global bank of systemic importance nine years in a row. In addition, Bank of China is a global leader in cross-border services in Renminbi, with Renminbi cross-border clearing and settlement quantities continuously taking the top spot worldwide.
Bank of China appreciates markets in Central and Eastern Europe. Bank of China (Hungary) Close Ltd., officially opened in 2003, is the first BOC commercial financial institution established in Central and Eastern Europe. In recent years, in response to the New Silk Road Initiative, Bank of China has constantly refined its institutional structure, assisted in the construction of projects, issued thematic bonds and organized cross-border events, thus providing high quality and complex financial services for a large part of Chinese-funded companies and “global” strategies, as well as for industrial leaders in Central and Eastern Europe.
This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Sino-Romanian diplomatic relations. The establishment of the Bucharest branch is not only a landmark in financial cooperation but also a concrete action in strengthening the extended cooperation between the two countries. In the future, Bank of China, by giving priority to its global operations, will continue to consolidate trade between companies, expand bilateral trade, further strengthen financial cooperation, to further contribute to deepening economic cooperation between China and Romania.