ICBC pledges to boost off-shore RMB trade in Europe

 　　LONDON, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) (London) plc said on Monday it would work on boosting off-shore trading of Chinese currency RMB, also known as yuan, here in Europe.

　　Xu Jinlei, general manager of ICBC London, said ICBC London would work hard to develop itself into a European center of off-shore RMB trading, syndicated loans, trade finance, and capital and precious metal trading, to provide high-quality financial service for clients worldwide.

　　He made the comments during the inauguration¹ ceremony of ICBC's new headquarters in the City Of London.

　　Chinese ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming also expressed his hope to further strengthen of bilateral² economic, trade and financial cooperation between the two countries during the ceremony.

　　The City of London Corporation has already formed a working group with several major banks as well as British Treasury³, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority to boost London as an off-shore trading center of Chinese currency, also known as yuan.

　　"As the world's leading financial center, London is uniquely well placed to assist China in its goal of further expanding the international use of the RMB," British Chancellor⁴ of the Exchequer⁵ George Osborne said last week.

　　The Chancellor also announced the launch of the first-ever RMB denominated bond in London by HSBC on April 18.

　　The ICBC is the biggest lender in China. Currently, ICBC has 244 overseas branches in 34 countries and regions, and has expanded its presence in Africa after purchasing 20 percent of South Africa's Standard Bank Group.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

3 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 exchequer   

n.财政部；国库

参考例句：

• In Britain the Chancellor of the Exchequer deals with taxes and government spending.英国的财政大臣负责税务和政府的开支。
• This resulted in a considerable loss to the exchequer.这使国库遭受了重大损失。