Melbourne - China's Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on Monday officially opened its branch in Melbourne. It is the third ICBC branch established in Australia after Sydney and Perth branches.

Speaking at the launching, the ICBC Board Chairman and Vice-President Ms Wang Lili said that Melbourne Branch will participate in a series of key projects in Australia through syndicated loans, project finance, structured finance and mergers and acquisitions loans and other financing facilities. It will strictly comply with the regulatory requirements of Australia, commit to social responsibilities and also pay attention to environment protection. Together with the Sydney branch, it will provide localized and convenient services for local businesses and communities to facilitate and promote economic and social exchanges between China and Australia.

The Consul General of the Chinese Consulate in Melbourne Mr Shi Weiqiang, in his speech said that on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of China-Australia diplomatic relations, the establishment of the branch in Melbourne was not only an embodiment of ICBC's confidence in the future economic development of Melbourne, but also showed the bank's commitment to bridge China-Australia economic and trade cooperation.

In recent years, China-Australian economic and trade cooperation has become increasingly diversified, ranging from agriculture, energy, mining industry to new energy, energy saving and environmental protection, finance and many other fields. By the end of 2011, china had $1148.4 cumulative investment in Australia, which has increased by 32.1 percent over the same period of last year.