Philippine Metrobank opened a new branch in the eastern Chinese city of Changzhou in Jiangsu province on Wednesday.
The bank will mainly offer financial services for more than 68,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Changzhou, which account for almost 96 percent of the city's total of privately-owned businesses.
"We choose Changzhou because the city has a broad market and a large number of high-quality clients," said Arthur Ty, board chairman of Metrobank (China) Co. Ltd.
"We will offer excellent financial services for them in light of international standards," he said.
On July 1, the China Banking Regulatory Commission, the nation's banking regulator, officially approved Metrobank (China)'s application to establish a new branch in Changzhou, which is also the city's first foreign bank.
Metrobank (China), headquartered in Jiangsu provincial capital of Nanjing, is the first wholly-owned foreign corporate bank in Jiangsu. It was launched in April last year and specializes in providing lending services for SMEs.It currently has one branch in Nanjing and two in Shanghai.The bank also plans to open a branch in Quanzhou in east China's Fujian province in 2012.
Metrobank is the largest bank in the Philippines, and the flagship company of the Metrobank Group.