In 2023, the total assets of the Bank of China amounted to nearly 32.5 trillion yuan. In the same year, the bank generated 237.5 billion yuan in profits and has managed to increase the value of its assets year on year over the past decade.
A brief history of the Bank of China
The Bank of China was the fourth-largest commercial bank in China in 2022. The bank was founded in 1912 and until the establishment of the PRC acted as the central bank, foreign exchange, and international trade bank. From 1949 onward, foreign exchange and international trade settlement became its main operations, until it evolved into a state-owned commercial bank during China鈥檚 economic liberalization period. Today, the Bank of China offers retail and corporate banking services and has branches in 57 countries.
Going public
Despite being state-owned, the Bank of China floated a minority stake on the stock exchanges in Hong Kong and Shanghai. In 2006, the bank raised 9.7 billion U.S. dollars by selling a 10.5 percent share in the bank at the Hong Kong bourse. At the time, it was the largest public offering worldwide in the six years since the initial public offering of AT&T in 2000. Selling off shares of Chinese banks was part of the country鈥檚 ascent into the World Trade Organization. A precondition for China鈥檚 admission was that the country had to open its financial system to foreign banks. Therefore, many Chinese banks began offering shares on stock markets.