Mossack Fonseca – Concluding the Centre’s participation at the 2016 G20 conferences held in China, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the global financial services hub connecting businesses and financial institutions with emerging markets across the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA), reaffirmed its commitment to supporting China’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ (OBOR) initiative and establishing a robust and supportive financial platform for Chinese institutions, to wit:
Chinese banks in DIFC have doubled their balance sheet in the last 18 months
Representing 26% of total assets booked at DIFC, China’s top four state-owned banks have combined total assets of US$21.5 billion.
Dubai’s established framework for Islamic finance provides opportunities for Chinese firms.
DIFC has seen exponential growth in the presence of Chinese financial firms and state-owned banks in recent years. According to the Centre’s 2015 full year Operating Review results, Chinese banks in DIFC have doubled their balance sheet in the last 18 months. Representing 26% of the total assets booked in DIFC, China’s top four state-owned banks – Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, ICBC and China Construction Bank – have combined total assets of US$21.5 billion.
The four banks have additionally upgraded their licenses at DIFC to Category 1, expanding their presence from subsidiary to branch status.