BOC eyes cheap overseas acquisitions

THE Bank of China will expand in overseas markets by taking advantage of current low valuations to acquire financial assets cheaply, Li Lihui, president of BOC, said yesterday.

Li said the country's fourth-biggest lender by market value will not rule out opportunities to buy financial assets in Europe or the United States as these assets have low valuation due to the global financial crisis weighing heavily on them, the Securities Times reported yesterday, citing him speaking on the sidelines of the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

BOC also plans to set up more branches in Asia, central and eastern Europe as well as South America to assist Chinese enterprises in "going out" under a national strategy to establish overseas corporations and acquire overseas assets.

While BOC faces "some volatility" in credit asset quality, it is still in the "favorable range."

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