French bank Societe Generale (SG) announced here on Friday that it was likely to get the approval of China's banking regulator to set up a locally-incorporated bank in Beijing in March next year.

The local bank will offer a series of banking service such as corporate and investment banking, assets management and retail banking, said Philippe Citerne, SG's chief executive officer, adding the retail business could start before the end of June next year.

He said about 60 branches would be established in 10 Chinese cities in the coming five years.

According to current regulations, before local registration, branches of foreign banks can only offer fixed deposits of Renminbi from Chinese mainland citizens, each totaling at least one million yuan (131,600 U.S. dollars).

SG began its services with a representative office in Beijing in 1981. It now has five full-service branches in key Chinese cities.

Six other foreign-funded banks have also decided to set up local incorporations in Beijing, namely Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank, Woori Bank, Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan and UBS, according to Shanghai Securities News.

JPMorgan Chase, a U.S. financial service provider, opened its locally-incorporated bank in Beijing in October.

But the investment bank, which was approved by the China Banking Regulatory Commission to set up local incorporations on July 23, had no plan for branching into retail business for individual clients.

(Xinhua News Agency November 3, 2007)