South Africa's Absa Group, a leading pan-African bank, announced on Wednesday the official launch of its new non-banking subsidiary in Beijing. The ambitious move aims to unlock more trade and investment opportunities between China and Africa.
The new office will enable the Johannesburg-based company to offer local support to Chinese clients and stakeholders to conclude transactions across the African continent, helping to support clients' needs, according to a statement issued by the Absa Group in January.
This business expansion demonstrates Absa's emphasis on and robust confidence in China's market. It also reflects China's persistent endeavors to foster growing economic ties with the rising Global South, experts said.
Amid the evolving global economic landscape, cooperation between the two sides has progressed from basic energy and infrastructure projects to financial collaboration, which are more pivotal and forward-looking areas, and this is likely to deepen bilateral ties in the real economy sector, Yang Baorong, director of African Studies of the Institute of West-Asian and African Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The new office in Beijing will allow Absa to provide general advisory services to clients based in China, according to a statement. The lender will also be able to distribute some research about the macroeconomic environment and securities reports to some institutional clients in China, Bloomberg reported.
The move will help the bank become a "facilitator of trade flows into Africa", Absa said in its latest financial report, published in early March, according to media reports.
"Our expansion into this dynamic market represents an exciting opportunity to unlock new avenues of growth and prosperity for Africa and China," said Arrie Rautenbach, the CEO of Absa Group, at a ceremony earlier this year, according to the Xinhua News Agency.
In recent years, investment cooperation between the two sides has steadily grown, with annual manufacturing direct investment exceeding $400 million and infrastructure construction cooperation exceeding $37 billion, supporting Africa's industrialization and economic diversification, said He Yadong, spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce, at a regular press conference on April 11.
The cooperation has boosted China-South Africa ties under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past decade, this initiative has significantly improved economic development and livelihoods in Africa.
"Removing constraints on financial flows is crucial for deepening the bilateral ties," Song Wei, a professor with the School of International Relations and Diplomacy at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
The launch of the subsidiary signifies Africa's financial institutions' participation in China-African financial cooperation, which is expected to bolster mutual benefits in settlement and investment, Song added.
2024年5月9日，南非Absa集团在北京宣布正式启动其新的非银行子公司，旨在加强中非之间的贸易和投资机会。Absa集团首席执行官Arrie Rautenbach表示，这一举措代表了他们对中非增长和繁荣新途径的探索，同时反映了对中国市场的强烈信心。
据中国社会科学院西亚非洲研究所非洲研究所所长杨宝荣介绍，随着全球经济格局的发展，中非双方的合作已从基础能源和基础设施项目扩展到金融合作等更为关键和前瞻性的领域，这种深化的双边合作有望在真实经济领域进一步加深双方的关系。
新办事处的设立，使Absa能够为中国客户提供一般咨询服务，并向部分机构客户分发关于宏观经济环境和证券的研究报告。这一扩展举措，如Absa在其3月初发布的最新财报中所述，将帮助银行成为“促进非洲贸易流动的推动者”。
中国商务部发言人何亚东在4月11日的例行新闻发布会上提到，近年来，中非双方的投资合作稳步增长，年度制造业直接投资已超过4亿美元，基础设施建设合作超过370亿美元，有效支持了非洲的工业化和经济多样化。此外，这种合作还在中国提出的“一带一路”倡议下，显著提高了非洲的经济发展和民生改善。
北京外国语大学国际关系与外交学院教授宋伟指出，金融流动的去障碍化对于深化双边关系至关重要。新办事处的开设不仅标志着非洲金融机构参与中非金融合作的一大步，也预示着在结算和投资方面双方将实现更多的互利互惠。
总的来说，Absa集团在北京设立子公司，不仅展示了其对中国市场的坚定信心，也为中非之间的经济和金融合作开辟了新的渠道，预期将推动双边关系达到新的高度。
