Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) plans to open 3,000 VIP wealth management branches to expand its presence in the Chinese domestic banking market, the company’s chairman has announced.
The launch of the branches is set to be staggered over a three-year period with 1,000 expected to open this year, Jiang Jianqing says.
Following approval of the company’s plans at the firm’s general meeting Tuesday, $144 million of funding was earmarked for the initial phase of the expansion.
Meanwhile, 500,000 is to be invested in revamping the company’s existing branch network including adding 5,000 new ATMS to bring its total to 20,000. IT facilities are also to be upgraded with $500,000 set aside for the programme.