Granting of banking licence to China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Thursday) that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to China Merchants Bank Co., Ltd. (CMB) under the Banking Ordinance. This grant of banking licence took effect on 30 April 2002.

CMB is a bank incorporated in China and has maintained a local representative office since 1992. According to The Banker, July 2001 issue, CMB ranked 276^th and 223^rd respectively in terms of tier 1 capital and total assets in the world as well as 7^th in China in both terms.

With the granting of a banking licence to CMB, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 140.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Sylvia Yip, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
2 May 2002