Wang Hongzhang

China Construction Bank Corp.'s (CCB) Johannesburg Branch, its advanced base for the African market, was established in 2000. Ahead of the FOCAC Johannesburg Summit, the bank's Chairman Wang Hongzhang tells ChinAfrica how CCB is facilitating cooperation in Sino-African trade. 

ChinAfrica: Many African analysts have been concerned about China's economic growth. How do you see China's economy developing?

Wang Hongzhang: A slew of positive economic indicators have shown that China's economy is stabilizing. The overall economic growth rate has been controlled at a reasonable interval, despite downward pressure. It is estimated that China's GDP will grow by 7 percent with declining growth in some areas and sectors. Profit growth at banks is slowing as well.

By the end of June 2015, the broad money supply increased by 11.8 percent year on year, but down 0.3 percentage points from the end of last year, as financing and loan demand weakened. It is estimated that interest rate marketization, volatility of stocks, and two-way fluctuation of the renminbi exchange rate will lead to an increase in currency market volatility. China will continue to implement its prudent monetary policy. It will regulate liquidity in the banking system through tools like lowering the reserve requirement ratio and open-market operations.

What is CCB's development plan in Africa?

In the past decade, Africa experienced unprecedented growth rates, with eight African countries among the top 20 fastest-growing economies in the world. Currently, China's Initiative of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road is aimed at reviving the ancient trade routes connecting Asia with Europe and Africa through investment and infrastructure programs. Therefore, Africa is an important part of CCB's overseas strategies. In September, to enhance and improve CCB's network coverage and service capacity in Southern Africa, the Cape Town Branch was established. In addition to setting up additional branches, CCB will take measures according to local conditions, such as increasing existing institutions' capital, and strategic mergers and acquisitions, to enhance its competitiveness.

How does CCB support Chinese enterprises in Africa? 

CCB is providing enterprises with efficient financial services, servicing cooperation in Sino-African trade with the goal of becoming a key bank in Africa.

For this purpose, wherever enterprises go, our services will be there. Not only do we provide strong financial support for enterprises but also use our comprehensive and multi-functional talent networks to provide customers with value-added services in consulting and mergers and acquisitions.

The Johannesburg Branch is 15 years old. How has it been doing?

The Johannesburg Branch has been servicing local businesses and Sino-African trade cooperation. Ranked fourth among 14 foreign banks in South Africa with assets of $2.2 billion by the end of this June from the initial $4.8 million, it has become one of the major foreign banks. It has also witnessed good cooperation between China and South Africa.

The Johannesburg Branch concentrates on localization, and above 80 percent of its staff are recruited locally, much higher than that of some local transnational enterprises and most Chinese enterprises. Its operations have been diversified in many important industries such as manufacturing, mining, petrochemicals, finance, telecommunication, transportation, media and logistics, covering more than 10 countries in Africa.

The branch benefits from its market positioning and development strategy. Compared with local banks, which have a large number of branches, our branch conducts competition with the limited number of employees. Our quality services and products help us develop.

What will CCB do at the FOCAC Summit in Johannesburg?

We will sign strategic cooperation agreements and specific cooperation projects with companies in South Africa at the summit. We will attend the China-Africa Business Conference and participate in China's equipment manufacturing industry exhibition. More importantly, we should ensure the implementation of and follow-up on projects after the summit.

CCB has long and rich experience in the field of infrastructure construction in China. We will, on one hand, increase our support for local projects in sectors like infrastructure, energy, information technology, transportation and petrochemicals; on the other, in accordance with our advantages, we will participate in the Belt and Road Initiative, grasping industrial capacity cooperation opportunities and providing financial support and comprehensive services for Chinese enterprises' development in Africa.