JPMorgan injects $400m into China unit

JPMorgan Chase & Co has injected 2.5 billion yuan ($394.08 million) into its China unit, the latest foreign bank to beef up its Chinese operations.

Foreign banks, including HSBC and Singapore's DBS Group, have either injected or are planning to pump in capital into their China units which are expected to grow rapidly over the coming years even as growth in the world's second-biggest economy comes off the boil.

"The additional capital will better position the bank in the evolving regulatory environment and cement our commitment to clients in China," Zili Shao, Chairman and chief executive of JP Morgan China, said in a statement on Monday.

"The capital will be used to expand the bank's branch network, develop products, increase corporate lending, and recruit employees," Shao added.

The injection brings the registered capital of the locally incorporated unit to 6.5 billion yuan.

The local unit, which conducts commercial banking businesses in China, has also received regulatory approval to open its 7th branch in China in Suzhou, west of Shanghai, the statement said.

JPMorgan has a separate investment banking joint venture in China.

HSBC injected 2.8 billion yuan into its China unit last year, even as it laid off several hundred investment bankers in London, Hong Kong and elsewhere as part of its jobs cull to save billions of dollars.

DBS, Southeast Asia's largest bank, said in April it is planning to make an injection of 2.3 billion yuan into its China unit to increase its network and staff, and upgrade infrastructure and other technology platforms.