ANZ has received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission to establish a branch in China’s western Chongqing municipality.

ANZ already has three foreign bank branches in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou and a sub-branch in Shanghai.
The regulatory approval for the Chongqing branch follows the signing in February of an agreement between ANZ and the Chongqing Government’s Financial Affairs Office signalling the bank’s commitment to assist the development of Chongqing’s financial industry, where annual growth in financial services has grown at around 30 percent in recent years. Chongqing also has the largest number of corporate financial institutions and foreign financial institutions in western China.

Chongqing, considered the economic gateway to south-western China saw GDP grow by 14.9 percent in 2009. In April, ANZ was granted preparatory approval to locally incorporate in China and last year established a rural bank in the Chongqing county of Liangping. ANZ also owns a 19.9 percent stake in the Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank and a 20 percent stake in the Bank of Tianjin.