Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (Thai) Public Company Limited (abbreviated as ‘ICBC Thai’) has been designated as the RMB clearing bank in Bangkok, according to an announcement made by the People’s bank of China (PBOC) on January 6, 2015, signaling that ICBC obtained another overseas RMB clearing bank qualification granted by the PBOC following the authorization in Singapore, Luxembourg, Doha and Toronto.  The appointment also marked a further expansion for ICBC to create a global RMB clearing network across different time zones, while enhancing the internationalization of RMB, especially the utilization of RMB in the cross-border transactions in Thailand and Asean countries.

After being mandated as the RMB clearing bank, ICBC Thai promises that they will strictly fulfill the obligations to the regulatory rules under the direction of authorities of both China and Thailand, commit to providing safe, premium and efficient RMB clearing service relying on its advantages in business, network and services, and make contribution to further boosting bilateral economic and trade cooperation between China and Thailand or Asean countries.

Thailand is one of the Asean founder countries, and the third biggest trade partner of China among the Asean countries. China is the biggest export destination and the second biggest importer of Thailand. In recent years, China and Thailand have continuously deepened cooperation in trade and finance. In the financial sector, financial institutions and enterprises from both countries have carried out extensive cooperation in many areas. In 2013, the bilateral trade volume between Thailand and China reached USD 71.26 billion, and two countries plan to increase the volume to USD 100 billion in 2015. On December 22,
2014, the central banks of the two countries reentered into an RMB70 billion bilateral local currency swap agreement. The approval of ICBC Thai as the local RMB clearing bank will bring more convenient and premium financial services for Chinese and Thai or Asean enterprises and financial institutions in RMB-denominated cross-border transactions, and further promote free and convenient trade and investment between the two countries/regions.

ICBC (Thai), previously named ACL Bank Public Company Limited, was taken over by ICBC on April 2010. ICBC Thai now has the largest number of business centers and business scale in the region among its Chinese peers and obtains the highest level of local banking license. So far, it has established 20 business centers in Bangkok and other major cities in Thailand. In recent years, with wider and deeper cooperation among China, Thailand and Asean countries in economy and trade, ICBC (Thai), by seizing the strategic opportunity for cross-border use of RMB, has actively developed the offshore RMB business, and formed a diversified RMB product and service system comprising RMB exchange, RMB documents/guarantees, RMB deposits, RMB trade finance, overseas loans, offshore market borrowings, as well as RMB foreign exchange settlement and sale. With business scope consistently expanding, the branch has effectively met the local customers' needs for RMB settlement, RMB exchange, investment and financing, and strongly boosted the cross-border use of RMB.