Largest UAE banks to open offices in China

Two of the largest banks of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Emirates NBD and National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD), are eyeing opening their branches in Chinese cities to benefit from the growing trade relations between the two countries, local daily The National reported Thursday.

NBAD has opened an office in Shanghai earlier this week and plans to set up another office in Hongkong, while Emirates NBD, a bank based in Dubai, is currently preparing to open a branch in the Chinese capital Beijing, the daily said.

The moves come as a result of the growing economic relations between the UAE and China. With the new branches in China, the two UAE banks will primarily offer trade and export financing solutions for firms from both countries.

According to the UAE ministry of economy, China is the Gulf state's second largest trade partner and the trade volume between the two countries hit 35 billion U.S. dollars in 2011.

Earlier in the week UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Bin Saeed Al Mansouri praised Beijing's commitment to pushing up trade relations, saying that "both sides are able to establish a win-win situation for their economies by reaching out together to new, fast-growing markets in the world."