1. Why did you choose to set up operations in the DIFC?
Dubai is located in the heart of the intersection of three continents, Asia, Africa, and Europe. Its
excellent strategic location makes it a great bridge linking the three most diversified and vibrant
economies of the world. Dubai is four hours ahead of London and four hours behind Beijing,
which can cover the eastern and western markets within a day and perfectly fill in the "financial
vacuum zone". It is also a huge capital market, providing financial services to 25 countries
between the East and West, including the Gulf region, the Middle East, Iran and Central Asia.
Dubai International Financial Centre offers high-class infrastructure and tax-free regime, plus
sound financial regulation, stable political and economic environment, and admirable security,
which perfectly meet the needs of a stable external environment for banking operations.
CCB Group possessed huge credit assets in the UAE, and particularly in Dubai. The
establishment of operations here is to facilitate bigger and stronger business in the Middle East
and North Africa markets, thus providing better financial services to Chinese enterprises who
are ‘going global’, as well as local customers.
2. What has been your experience with DIFC in terms of facilitating your business?
All DIFC based banks and financial institutions are regulated and licensed by the Dubai
Financial Services Authority (DFSA), in accordance with international best practice. DFSA, as
an independent risk-based regulator, was established based on the principles and legislative
models used in London and New York. It permits a series of financial services and takes the
capital flexibility into consideration in its legal regime. The DFSA has always been committed to
the improvement of regulatory system to promote the prosperity of the region's financial
services and business activities. We are deeply impressed by the efficient, professional and
rigorous regulatory system of DIFC.
In addition, the CCB DIFC branch was approved on November 26, 2015, which could not have
been achieved without the great support and help the DIFC team provided in the process of
setting up our branch.
3. What are your long-term expansion plans and how can DIFC support you in achieving
your business objectives?
With China's economy entering a "new normal" status, the transformation of development
modes and acceleration of structural adjustments have become the theme of China's economic
development. CCB speeds up the transformation in five aspects, namely a comprehensive
banking group, multi-functional services, intensive management, innovation and intellectual
banking.
As a large state-owned commercial bank, CCB has always served national development
strategies as its top priority. It is closely aligned with the country's economic development, and
actively participates in the implementation of national development strategies such as the ‘One
Belt, One Road’ initiative, the establishment of the free trade zone, the joint development of
Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei, and the Yangtze River economic belt, amongst others.
We note that the UAE, particularly Dubai, attaches great importance to the Chinese
government’s ‘One Belt, One Road” strategy. We are also more actively and systematically
involved in the large-scale construction projects in Dubai, especially in the infrastructure sector.
CCB’s international transformation is making solid progress. We are promoting the
establishment of a multi-functional marketing services platform, building an overseas capital
platform, creating an information management platform for overseas projects and an overseas
approval centre. We are also further optimising the overseas layout through centralised
clearing of overseas institutions and global deployment of overseas online banking.