HSBC Holdings is preparing to boost its China presence about 20 percent next year, as it ramps up for an IPO in one of its fastest growing markets, a top company executive said.

The Europe's biggest bank wants to open 15 to 20 new branches in China next year pending regulatory approval, up from the 90 to 100 it will have at the end of this year, Sandy Flockhart, HSBC's Asia chief executive, said.

"We will be the largest international bank in China, and we will continue to invest in China in 2010," he said.

HSBC has been among the more active foreign banks in China, where it earned a pre-tax profit of $752 million in the first half of the year, accounting for about 15 percent of the company's total. It competes here with the likes of Citigroup and Standard Chartered.

In addition to its own branch network, HSBC's China investments also include a 19 percent stake in Bank of Communications, a 16.8 percent stake in Ping An Insurance and a 12 percent stake in China's Industrial Bank.

HSBC said recently it would go to a dual-headquarters system in Hong Kong and London to emphasize the importance the bank places on Asia.

Last month, the bank said it was swinging its power base back to its place of birth 144 years ago by moving its chief executive to Hong Kong.

Flockhart said his bank, which posted a 50 percent drop in first-half profits, will focus its Asia acquisition strategy on China and other emerging markets as it increasingly relies on the region for growth.

To underscore the importance of China to its future, HSBC has become one of a handful of foreign companies to announce its intent to list in China when the country announces rules for such listings later this year or in early 2010.

Hong Kong's Bank of East Asia has said it would like to make such a listing.

The media have reported that Standard Chartered, which also has a heavy China presence, is also interested in such a listing.

HSBC's planned China IPO (initial public offering) is subject to regulatory requirements, and there is no specific time frame yet, Flockhart said.

HSBC could raise as much as 50 billion yuan in a Shanghai listing as soon as next year as it vies to become one of the first foreign companies to list in China, people familiar with the matter said in August.

The bank has hired China International Capital Corp (CICC) and CITIC Securities Co to help arrange an IPO in Shanghai, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.

The Shanghai flotation is a way to accelerate the bank's growth on the mainland at a time when international rivals have retreated, the company has said.

HSBC Holdings said in August its first-half profit halved to $5 billion as it was hit by rising bad debts in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Reuters

(China Daily 11/09/2009 page4)