Granting of banking licence to THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA CO., LTD.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority announced today (Monday) that the Monetary Authority has granted a banking licence to THE INTERNATIONAL COMMERCIAL BANK OF CHINA CO., LTD. (ICBCOL) under the Banking Ordinance. This grant of banking licence took effect on 19 September 2002.

ICBCOL is a bank incorporated in Taiwan and has maintained a local representative office since 2000. According to The Banker, July 2002 issue, ICBCOL ranked 189^th and 224^th in the world and 7^th and 8^th in Taiwan in terms of tier 1 capital and total assets respectively.

With the grant of a banking licence to ICBCOL, the number of licensed banks in Hong Kong has increased to 136.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Thomas Chan, Senior Manager (Press), at 2878 1480

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
23 September 2002