ROK's Hana Bank locally incorporated in Beijing

Hana Bank, the fourth largest commercial bank in the Republic of Korea (ROK), was locally incorporated in Beijing on Thursday.

It was the second ROK bank to be locally incorporated in China.The first was Woori Bank, which took similar action in November.

Hana Bank China was set up with a registered capital worth 2 billion yuan (274 million U.S. dollars) after receiving approval from China's banking regulator earlier this month.

Headquartered in Beijing, Hana Bank China has seven outlets across the country. Its first outlet in China opened in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in 2004.

The bank would mainly target retail banking in northeastern regions and Shandong Province, said Hana Bank China's President, Choi Chong-suk. It would also be active in providing financial services to Chinese companies, especially medium-sized and small ones, the bank said.

The bank also aimed to start wealth management services such as private banking next year, if approved by Chinese regulators.

As of the end of October, 21 foreign banks - including the Standard Chartered Bank, the Bank of East Asia and the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corp. - had won approval to transform their Chinese branches into locally incorporated banks registered on the mainland. Of these 21 banks, six have been allowed to provide Renminbi services and five will be able to issue bank cards.