about bea’s china services<br><br>as one of the foreign banks with the most extensive branch coverage on the mainland, bea has a branch network in china that now consists of 27 outlets, including 11 branches (shanghai, shenzhen, xiamen, guangzhou, zhuhai, dalian, xi’an, beijing, chengdu, hangzhou, and chongqing), 10 sub-branches (4 in shanghai, 2 each in guangzhou and shenzhen, and 1 in both dalian and xi’an), and 6 representative offices (fuzhou, qingdao, wuhan, tianjin, suzhou, and dongguan). following earlier approval that it received from the china regulatory banking commission to upgrade its qingdao representative office to a full-fledged branch, bea expects to open its qingdao branch later this year.<br><br>bea provides a wide range of banking services to a growing customer base in china. in addition to foreign currency services extended to all types of customers, the bank offers renminbi services to customers (except local residents) through its eight branches in beijing, shanghai, shenzhen, dalian, guangzhou, zhuhai, xi’an, and xiamen.<br><br>bea expects its china business to continue to grow, having recently been granted qualified domestic institutional investor (“qdii”) status by the china banking regulatory commission. as one of the few foreign banks to receive qdii status, bea is authorised to offer overseas investment services to local residents and enterprises at its branches in china. the bank anticipates significant growth in its wealth management services business on the mainland.<br><br>about the bank of east asia<br>incorporated in hong kong in 1918, bea is dedicated to providing comprehensive retail and commercial banking services to its customers in hong kong, greater china, and overseas. bea is the largest independent local bank in hong kong, with total consolidated assets of hkd238.8 billion (usd30.79 billion) as of 31st december, 2005. the bank is listed on the stock exchange of hong kong and is one of the constituent stocks of the hang seng index. with more than 170 outlets worldwide, bea operates an extensive international network covering hong kong and greater china, the united states, canada, the united kingdom, the british virgin islands, and southeast asia. for more information on bea, please visit any bea branch or the bank’s homepage at www.hkbea.com.