ANZ Bank closes its Guangzhou branch, with ongoing adjustments to the layout of foreign banks in China in 2024

The Guangdong Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau issued a reply on October 22, 2024, approving the closure of the Guangzhou branch of Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (China) Limited. This decision marks a further adjustment in the business layout of ANZ Bank in China, reflecting the challenges and changes faced by foreign banks in the Chinese market.

ANZ Bank's Business Contraction in China

The closure of the Guangzhou branch by ANZ Bank is not an isolated case. In April of this year, the bank announced the closure of its Hangzhou branch. Earlier in July 2023, ANZ Bank's Liangping ANZ Rural Bank also achieved market exit through dissolution. These series of measures indicate that ANZ Bank is gradually reducing its business scale in mainland China.

According to the reply from the Guangdong Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, the Guangzhou branch is required to immediately cease all business activities, return the license within 15 working days, properly handle the closure and follow-up work of the branch, and issue a public closure notice. This process will involve multiple statutory procedures, including handling relevant procedures such as industrial and commercial registration.

Adjustment Trend of Foreign Banks' Business Layout in China

ANZ Bank is not the only foreign bank adjusting its business in China. Since 2024, several well-known foreign banks have announced the closure of branches or representative offices in China and obtained regulatory approval. These banks include Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of the North, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered Bank, DBS Bank, and JP Morgan.

Among them, Citibank and Standard Chartered Bank have closed a relatively large number of branches. Citibank has closed branches in multiple cities this year, including Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu, and Shanghai. Standard Chartered Bank has also closed multiple branches in cities such as Qingdao, Hohhot, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. This trend reflects foreign banks reevaluating their strategic positioning and business layout in the Chinese market.

Current Development of Foreign Banks in China

Despite some foreign banks choosing to shrink their business in China, overall, foreign banks still maintain a certain scale and influence in the Chinese market. According to a report released by the Foreign Banks Working Committee of the China Banking Association, as of the end of 2023, the total assets of foreign banks in China reached 3.86 trillion yuan, with a net profit of 21.248 billion yuan for the year.

In terms of institutional layout, banks from 52 countries and regions have established institutions in China, with a total of 888 operational institutions of foreign banks, including 41 foreign legal person banks, 116 foreign bank branches, and 132 representative offices, covering 27 provincial-level administrative regions. These data indicate that foreign banks still play an important role in the Chinese financial market.

However, compared to domestic banks in China, the market share of foreign banks is relatively limited. The total assets of the 41 foreign legal person banks are about 3 trillion yuan, equivalent to the size of a top city commercial bank. In the first half of 2024, foreign banks achieved a net profit of 14.9 billion yuan, accounting for about 1.2% of the overall banking industry, showing an improvement from the same period last year but still at a relatively low level