Bank of China (BOC), one of four biggest state-owned commercial banks, has opened its first branch in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, which will further expand the use of the yuan in finance and trade.
According to an announcement published by the BOC, the bank opened the Riyadh branch, with BOC President Liu Jin, Chinese Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Chen Weiqing, Governor of the Saudi Central Bank Ayman Al-Sayari and other officials attending the opening ceremony.
Liu said that the establishment of a branch in Saudi Arabia to serve trade and investment exchanges was a solid initiative to promote the high-quality construction of the Belt and Road Initiative with the power of finance, Global Times reported
on Thursday.
The bank will continue to improve its global service network and provide high-quality financial services, contributing to the deepening of cooperation between China and Arab countries, between China and the Gulf Cooperation Council, and between China and Saudi Arabia.
Ambassador Chen congratulated the bank on its opening of the branch. He said that the opening was the fruit of the continuous development of friendly relations between China and Saudi Arabia and represented that China highly recognized Saudi Arabia’s financial regulation, investment environment and the location’s advantages, marking a new level of cooperation between the two countries in the field of finance, which will provide stronger support for bilateral pragmatic cooperation.
Al-Sayari said that the establishment of the branch was another milestone in deepening practical cooperation between the two countries and was of great significance in expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation. The Saudi side will continue to support and facilitate the development of BOC and other Chinese-funded enterprises in the country.
As the largest buyer of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil, China imported 87.5 million tons of crude oil from Saudi Arabia in 2022, accounting for 21.7 percent of Saudi Arabia’s total crude oil exports, according to media reports.
In addition to Saudi Arabia, companies in Brazil have also made significant progress in the use of the yuan in trade.
