RBI well connected in China

Swift's annual Sibos conference, the largest global financial event, which is both an exhibition and a networking event with around 10,000 participants from 150 financial institutions from 133 countries, took place in Beijing from October 20 to 24 - with RBI's participation, of course. SIBOS offered the perfect opportunity to meet more than 130 international counterparts in just few days and explore new business opportunities.

The RBI delegation also took part in an Austrian trade mission led by the current Minister of Economics and Labor and future National Bank Governor Martin Kocher. The program included the annual Austrian joint event “Austria Connect” for the Greater China region, which took place in Hong Kong, as well as a joint visit by RBI colleagues to Chinese financial institutions in the business areas of Institutional Clients, Compliance, Cash Management and Group Prime Services.

One thing is for sure: China remains of key interest to both institutional and corporate clients. RBI is well positioned to act as a bridge between West and East with its gateway strategy.

Opportunities arise from China's political support with the aim of increasing trade, attracting foreign direct investment, boosting domestic consumption, internationalizing the renminbi / Chinese yuan (RMB/CNY) and creating global champions in selected sectors. In addition, Austria wants to position itself as a recipient of investment in our region, for example in the area of green technologies. Our experts are already seeing significant investment and trade flows in our core markets such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Serbia.

Chinese banks and institutional players are very interested in cooperating with RBI, for example to support direct investments in our core region. At product level, there are concrete follow-up measures in the areas of trade finance, cash management, treasury, fixed-income investments and custody, to name but a few. In addition, many promising contacts were made at the Sibos conference to expand cooperation with branches and subsidiaries of Chinese banks in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that is clearly of interest and relevance. 

At the same time, risk mitigation and diversification are on the agenda. For example, companies from our core region of CEE and Austria that source their goods from China are increasingly pursuing a China+1 strategy, i.e. they are seeking to diversify into at least one other location, often in South (East) Asia, while continuing to benefit from low costs, high innovative strength and the large market in China.  

RBI clients looking to grow in the region or work with Chinese companies and institutions in a variety of ways benefit from our ever-growing product and market expertise and understanding of secure growth. We look forward to supporting you in your vision.