On April 22, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited (“ICBC (Thai)”) announced in Bangkok the official launch of RMB clearing bank service. Commercial banks in Thailand and other related countries can therefore open accounts in ICBC (Thai) to directly handle RMB business, broadening channels of using RMB funds by remarkably enhancing RMB transfer efficiency and facilitating RMB use. Earlier on January 6, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) officially authorized ICBC (Thai) to act as RMB clearing bank in Bangkok.

According to Chairman Jiang Jianqing’s remarks at the launching ceremony of Bangkok RMB clearing business,  ICBC (Thai) will leverage the geographic advantages of Thailand, and perform duties and obligations as a RMB clearing bank based on requirements and guidance of the two countries’ monetary management institutions and regulators. Backed by ICBC Group’s fund clearing system covering the world with unified standards and efficient operation, ICBC (Thai) will provide secure, high-quality, fast and convenient RMB clearing service and offer a good platform for RMB cross-border use as well as payment and settlement. Meanwhile, it will make full use of its strength in business, network, system and service, constantly enrich and improve RMB product system, offer more high-quality RMB products and services for China-Thailand economic and trade exchanges, and contribute to the healthy development of the local RMB market.

The economic and trade cooperation between China and Thailand is currently entering a new stage of comprehensive development. China is the largest trade partner, exporting market, and tourist source of Thailand. The two countries are important to each other as investment destinations. On December 22, 2014, the PBOC and Bank of Thailand signed a bilateral currency swap deal, marking a new step forward for the two countries’ cooperation in finance. Thailand, located at the center of the Southeast Asia, has signed favorable bilateral trade agreement with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan, India and Peru. It has signed free trade zone agreements separately with countries including China, South Korea, Japan, India, Australia, and New Zealand through ASEAN. Thailand has unique regional and resource advantages in pushing forward international economic cooperation, which enables the RMB clearing service in Thailand to impact more economies in the world.

ICBC is currently the largest RMB bank in the world. By capital strength, its total RMB assets and settlement volume stay atop the world, providing abundant RMB funds to customers. In terms of technological system, ICBC integrates its worldwide business outlets through its real-time clearing system of transfer, settlement and clearing as well as its centralized clearing of RMB and foreign currencies, to ensure real time arrival of remittance and transfer. As for global network, the Bank’s overseas network has so far covered 42 countries and territories, the widest if its kind among Chinese financial institutions. With five RMB clearing banks respectively in Singapore, Luxembourg, Doha, Bangkok and Toronto designated by China’s central bank, ICBC has become the first financial institution with RMB clearing banks in Asian, European, and American time zones. Its cross-border RMB clearing network covers 75 countries and territories, forming a round-the-clock world-wide RMB clearing system. In 2014, the Bank’s accumulative overseas RMB clearing volume exceeded RMB37 trillion and cross-border RMB business volume reached RMB 3.66 trillion. ICBC (Thai) is committed to extending the Bank’s advantages in RMB business to Thailand. It has leveraged Group advantages to launch a series of RMB services including RMB exchange, RMB document/guarantee, RMB deposit and remittance, RMB trade finance, offshore market borrowing, and RMB foreign exchange settlement and sales, playing a positive role in promoting RMB cross-border use in Thailand.