LONDON -- Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) London Branch officially declared its opening for business on Monday night, marking the first branch of a Chinese bank from the Chinese mainland approved to be established in Britain since the founding of the People's Republic of China.

ICBC announced in September that it had already obtained the license for branch operations granted by the British regulatory authorities.

At the opening ceremony, ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing said that the bank has always valued the British market and regarded London as one of its core strategic markets for overseas development.

ICBC London Branch and ICBC (London) plc, the existing local subsidiary of the Bank, would be primarily engaged in traditional commercial banking, with the former focusing on the development of large wholesale business and the latter on retail and SME business respectively, said Jiang.

Megan Butler, Executive Director of Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in Britain, said that the establishment of ICBC London branch was not only an important step of developing trade between Britain and China, it was also a key step in the close relationship of cooperation between British and Chinese regulatory authorities.

So far, ICBC has established over 330 overseas institutions in 41 countries and regions worldwide.