BEIJING (Reuters) - The new China chief of Dutch financial group ABN AMRO AAH.AS said he wanted to expand in all areas of banking but downplayed making an acquisition to grow in a country where rivals have invested billions of dollars for minority stakes in local banks.
"We are still very open-minded to every possible way of expanding in China, but buying a bank stake is not the only way," ABN China Chairman Qiu Zhizhong told the Reuters China Century Summit on Thursday.
Last year, ABN AMRO lost out in the bidding for Guangdong Development Bank. Sources have said groups led by Citigroup (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are vying to pay $3.2 billion for an 85 percent stake in the southern Chinese lender.
While ABN AMRO has been in China for 103 years, its business in the country is relatively small as it competes with global rivals such as Citigroup and HSBC (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) looking to tap the high end of the market.
ABN AMRO, for example, targets retail customers with incomes of at least $100,000 a year.
"We will try to expand our business on all three fronts: consumer, commercial and investment banking," said Qiu, who was appointed in May after serving as Greater China Chairman at rival bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).
Qiu, who was an early investor in solar cell maker Suntech Power Holdings (STP.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), still runs his own Q Capital merchant banking business and aims to use his contacts to generate business for ABN AMRO's investment bank.
ABN AMRO operates 12 outlets in China, including three full branches, and plans to set up another 20 outlets over the next three years -- a target that could be expanded, said the U.S. educated Qiu, who goes by the nickname "Z.Z.".
It takes two to three years for a new branch to turn a profit, Qiu said. Continued...
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