Industrial & Commercial bank of China said yesterday that it had won approval to set up a subsidiary in Dubai as part of its bids to expand overseas to diversify investment.

ICBC, the world's biggest bank by market value, said that it gained the "final license" from the United Arab Emirates Dubai Financial Services Authority on April 28, according to a statement to the Shanghai stock exchange today.

The unit, which has a registered capital of US$50 million, will cover businesses including accepting deposits, providing credit, managing assets and arranging deals in investments, the statement said.

ICBC in February gained approval to open a branch in Doha, becoming the first Chinese lender with a presence in the Gulf. The Beijing-based bank has said it would open branches in Sydney and Moscow.

ICBC acquired lenders in Indonesia, Macau and South Africa in the past year. Jiang Jianqing, chairman of ICBC, said earlier that he hoped to boost the lender's overseas business to let it account for about 10 percent of total revenue, up from 3 to 4 percent now.

ICBC said on April 29 that its first-quarter net profit climbed 77 percent to 33.1 billion yaun (US$4.7 billion) as it extended more loans to companies and gained more fees from wealth management business.

(Shanghai Daily May 7, 2008)