BBVA Gears Up For China Expansion - Report

Vanessa Doctor

4 October 2009

Spanish bank Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria is gearing up to expand its operations in China, a report by BusinessWeek reveals.

Spanish institutions have generally been resilient to the global financial crisis and are now ready to continue their worldwide expansion, with Asia as their primary target. China, which is touted to grow by over 8 per cent this year, is looking highly attractive to investors, along with the other Asian nations exhibiting signs of a speedy economic revival.

BBVA holds a particular advantage being the biggest Spanish investor in China and the largest Spanish bank in Asia.

According to the publication, the bank currently has a venture partnership with Citic Group (China) involving a slate of significant banking stakes in several of the Chinese firm's subsidiaries. This huge investment presence has made BBVA the second-biggest European bank in the region, next to HSBC. Also, since it started focusing on China in 2005, it has seen its banking activity triple and its earnings rise eightfold, the news service adds.

"The bank sees great possibilities for growth," BBVA spokeswoman Ulla Karppinen told the publication. "The main goal of BBVA in Asia is to become its third source of growth, with Spain and America."

In a separate interview, managing director for Asia Manuel Galatas told the news service in an interview that getting into China is coupled with a very cautious approach. Mr Galatas noted that given the cultural barriers and the complicated Chinese regulatory system, its China push could take a few years to complete. To date, Asia comprises only 2 to 3 per cent of the bank's total profits, he added.