Friend Perspective China | East Asia China Tour President Bi Mingqiang: Leveraging the "OneBank" collaborative advantage to deepen service efficiency in the Greater Bay Area

Since opening its first branch in Shanghai in 1920, Bank of East Asia has been deeply cultivating the mainland market for over a century. Its business network covers key economic zones such as the Yangtze River Delta, Greater Bay Area, and Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, making it one of the largest foreign-funded banks with a network on the mainland. As a century-old bank founded by Chinese people with the original aspiration of “creating wealth and strength for the motherland,” Bank of East Asia has always resonated with China’s economic development.

Bank of East Asia Vice President, Executive Director and General Manager of East Asia China Bi Mingqiang stated that, as a representative foreign bank deeply involved in the Greater Bay Area, East Asia China fully leverages the unique advantages of its Hong Kong parent in cross-border finance, wealth management, and global networks. Focusing on the diverse needs of residents and high-net-worth clients in the Greater Bay Area, it is building a cross-border financial service system with regional characteristics, creating a one-stop cross-border financial solution that includes diversified asset allocation, cross-border account services, efficient cross-border channels, and intelligent digital experiences.

Bank of East Asia Vice President, Executive Director and General Manager of East Asia China Bi Mingqiang

Standing at a new historical starting point, facing the opportunities brought by the “14th Five-Year Plan,” Bank of East Asia is centered on the “OneBank” strategy, breaking down domestic and international business barriers through resource integration and service synergy. It aims to build an integrated cross-border financial service platform to help Chinese enterprises “go global” and attract foreign capital, supporting residents’ wealth growth and promoting sustainable business development.

Deepening in the Greater Bay Area: Building a Cross-Border Financial Hub

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area holds a key position as “a strategic pivot for new development patterns, a demonstration zone for high-quality development, and a leader in Chinese-style modernization.” By deeply integrating Hong Kong and Macau’s international advantages with the industrial momentum of the nine cities in the Pearl River Delta, the Greater Bay Area has pioneered breakthroughs in institutional “soft connectivity” and technological collaboration, providing a core engine and benchmark for China to explore higher levels of opening-up and to build a new development pattern.

Based on this strategic high ground, Bi Mingqiang said that the Greater Bay Area is the top priority for East Asia Bank’s development strategy. As the national Greater Bay Area strategy advances, East Asia Bank is increasing its layout and investment in the area, especially in Qianhai. Currently, its branches fully cover all “9+2” cities within the Greater Bay Area and have established a comprehensive license service system including banking, securities, and funds, helping enterprises in the area “go out” and attracting overseas capital “come in.”

In Bi Mingqiang’s view, Qianhai is one of the regions most closely connected and cooperative with Hong Kong, making it the preferred location for developing cross-border business in the Greater Bay Area. East Asia Bank continues to support Qianhai’s development, with major business segments such as banking, securities, investment, asset management, and fintech all deployed in Qianhai.

He introduced that early 2024 will see the official launch of the Qianhai East Asia Bank Tower, becoming the strategic hub of East Asia Bank Group in the Greater Bay Area. The Shenzhen flagship branch of East Asia China, the BEAST fintech innovation center, the Data Science Laboratory, and several subsidiaries of East Asia Bank will all be based in this building, linking group resources to create an integrated financial ecosystem to provide customers with one-stop professional financial services. In March 2025, the East Asia Global Business Service Center will establish bases in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, providing efficient and unified logistical support and customer services for group members, while also promoting technological innovation and business synergy.

“Under the ‘OneBank’ strategy, East Asia Bank will continue to promote the coordinated development of key business segments in the Greater Bay Area, continuously optimize the cross-border financial service system. In the future, East Asia Bank will further rely on the policies and cross-border financial advantages of the Greater Bay Area, deepen cooperation between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, and contribute more to the area’s development,” Bi Mingqiang said.

Bi Mingqiang explained that East Asia China leverages the global network of East Asia Bank Group and fully utilizes the “OneBank” synergy advantage to achieve efficient coordination among domestic and overseas branches in customer service, risk control, and product innovation. This enables East Asia China to seamlessly connect processes such as early-stage financing arrangements, transaction structure design, post-transaction account management, and fund flows during enterprises’ international expansion, significantly improving service efficiency and comprehensive financial support capabilities.

Bi Mingqiang emphasized, “Currently, Chinese enterprises going abroad are shifting from ‘product export’ to ‘capacity, capital, and brand export.’ Cross-border M&A is gradually becoming a key path for companies’ globalization, as it allows rapid access to core technology, international channels, high-end brands, and global talent.”

East Asia Bank’s “OneBank” collaboration mechanism and full license advantages precisely address three major client pain points in cross-border M&A: first, information asymmetry—relying on the group’s cross-border network to help clients identify quality targets and compliance risks; second, complex capital structures—using a combination of M&A loans, bridge financing, and structured finance to meet different funding needs; third, post-acquisition integration difficulties—using East Asia Bank’s license resources to provide ongoing services such as financial optimization and account management, helping enterprises achieve “buy-in, financing, and management,” thereby improving the success rate and value realization of cross-border M&A.

In the field of cross-border M&A, besides building internal capabilities, East Asia Bank actively constructs an external ecosystem. In August 2025, under the guidance of the Shenzhen Municipal Financial Office and the Qianhai Authority, the Greater Bay Area Cross-Border M&A Alliance, initiated by East Asia China and Galaxy Securities, was officially established in Shenzhen.

Bi Mingqiang introduced that the alliance aims to integrate various resources and serve as a one-stop platform for cross-border M&A, aligning with the internationalization needs of Chinese enterprises. By collaborating with industry funds, private equity funds, and venture capital institutions, the alliance leverages East Asia Bank’s advantages in M&A loans and syndicate loans, improving “investment-loan linkage” and risk-sharing mechanisms. Through professional collaboration, the alliance effectively reduces barriers and risks for enterprises’ cross-border transactions.

As of the end of March 2026, the alliance has gathered 70 member units domestically and internationally, covering the Greater Bay Area and radiating nationwide. It focuses on key sectors such as advanced manufacturing, biomedicine, and new energy, providing professional support including project matchmaking and financing structure design.

Focusing on Wealth Management: Serving High-Net-Worth Clients

Following the opening of the Shenzhen Futian flagship branch in October 2025, in March this year, East Asia China’s Guangzhou Binjiang Branch (upgraded from the former Jiangnan West Branch) officially opened. This branch is located in the core area of Haizhu Binjiang high-end residential zone, with the core focus on “deepening local finance, enhancing wealth management, and strengthening cross-border features,” further strengthening East Asia China’s cross-border financial service capabilities and key city footholds in the Greater Bay Area.

In response to the wave of fintech and digitalization, Bi Mingqiang believes that physical branches still hold irreplaceable value, especially when serving high-net-worth clients. Face-to-face communication, comprehensive solution design, and building client trust remain difficult to fully replace through digital channels. He also revealed that in 2026, East Asia China will continue to focus on core cities, especially in the Greater Bay Area and Yangtze River Delta, optimizing retail branch layouts and increasing high-net-worth client service density.

Bi Mingqiang stated, “East Asia China has chosen to accelerate the development of retail business centered on wealth management at this stage, based on deep insights into China’s industrial upgrading, long-term economic growth, residents’ wealth accumulation, and rising cross-border asset allocation needs among high-net-worth individuals.” He believes that as China’s financial market continues to open up, the core attractiveness of its capital markets will gradually emerge, creating enormous opportunities for wealth management.

In line with market trends, leveraging the parent bank’s extensive resources in the Greater Bay Area and international markets, East Asia China is actively expanding high-net-worth client management and wealth management services, continuously deepening service quality and client stickiness, and creating differentiated advantages.

Bi Mingqiang observed that the cross-border asset allocation needs of high-net-worth individuals are becoming more diversified, professional, and integrated, shifting focus from simple asset returns to “asset security, tax compliance, and family inheritance.” For entrepreneurial clients, the boundary between “personal, family, and enterprise” needs is increasingly blurred.

He further explained that East Asia China has established an Entrepreneurs Office at the head office level to serve the three major entrepreneurial hubs: Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Greater Bay Area. The service model involves dedicated entrepreneur advisors providing personalized, butler-style services, activating group resources internally, and offering “personal + enterprise, mainland + Hong Kong” one-stop accounts and cross-border solutions; externally, a team of legal, tax, and other experts provides comprehensive support.

In serving entrepreneurial clients, Bi Mingqiang emphasized that East Asia China, through an efficient communication link with its Hong Kong parent, coordinates across group business units and domestic and international institutions, with entrepreneur advisors overseeing the entire process to optimize service efficiency and enhance client experience. Meanwhile, East Asia China adheres strictly to legal and compliance standards, rigorously following domestic and foreign legal requirements, integrating compliance deeply into product solutions to safeguard clients’ long-term interests.

At the same time, East Asia China is also working to improve resident experience. Bi Mingqiang introduced that East Asia China actively participates in the “Cross-border Wealth Management Connect” program, continuously enriching product offerings and optimizing service processes to provide residents in the Greater Bay Area with more flexible and diverse cross-border wealth management options. It also links with its Hong Kong parent to build cross-border financial channels, upgrading basic services such as cross-border account opening, remittance, and payments, aiming to break down barriers between accounts, funds, and products. He specifically mentioned that East Asia China’s mobile banking points mall now supports redemption of East Asia Hong Kong credit card points, enabling a convenient “one card, cross-border points transfer” experience, further promoting the integration of Bay Area finance and consumption scenarios.

Practicing ESG Principles: Moving Toward Sustainable Development

During the “14th Five-Year Plan” period, China will unwaveringly pursue high-quality development prioritizing ecology and green low-carbon initiatives. Under the dual drive of policies and markets, how financial institutions embed ESG concepts into their strategic core and empower the real economy through green finance has become a key topic at the start of the “14th Five-Year Plan.”

“ESG is another financial report for banks; it evaluates and measures the long-term vitality of banks and their societal value from a different perspective,” Bi Mingqiang said when discussing ESG strategies. He emphasized that East Asia China elevates ESG to a strategic level, focusing on corporate responsibility and long-term development trends—consistent with East Asia Bank’s century-old tradition.

Bi Mingqiang further stated that East Asia China not only emphasizes traditional financial indicators such as profitability and risk management but also values stakeholder attention to ESG issues related to environmental and social responsibility. Additionally, China’s “dual carbon” strategy encourages East Asia China to go beyond traditional financing services and support enterprises and society in green and low-carbon transformation, climate risk management, and sustainable development, creating long-term value.

He introduced that East Asia China has provided comprehensive financial services for enterprises’ green and low-carbon transformation, including green loans, sustainability-linked loans, and transition finance. Its green and sustainable finance balance exceeds 18%, focusing on sectors such as clean energy and energy conservation, and providing financial support for decarbonization in high-carbon industries like steel. In 2025, East Asia China launched its first transition finance product compliant with the People’s Bank of China’s standards, shifting focus from “pure green” to the broader “transition” market, actively supporting high-carbon industry transformation.

Regarding ESG innovation specific to the Greater Bay Area, Bi Mingqiang pointed out that the region is a key area for East Asia China’s business development. The advantage of ESG here lies in embedding sustainable development into the “cross-border DNA.” East Asia China is not only a fund provider but also a “green bridge” for cross-border enterprise development. For example, it links group investments in domestic companies issuing offshore green bonds; uses green foreign debt policies to channel group funds into domestic green projects via cross-border direct lending; adopts international green loan principles and sustainability-linked loan standards to offer ESG-labeled syndicated loans to Bay Area enterprises, helping improve their ESG performance.

Looking ahead, Bi Mingqiang said that East Asia China’s ESG development will focus more on “sustainability,” shifting from “scale growth” to balancing “efficiency, risk management, and low-carbon transition support.” He emphasized that green finance adds value to society and clients’ sustainability but also needs to ensure the bank’s own sustainable development. It is necessary to refine and elevate related values, balancing ESG and operational performance, and empowering the bank’s sustainable growth. ESG topics also introduce different risk management perspectives, and East Asia China will strengthen physical climate risk and transition risk management to ensure that sustainable financing truly remains green and low-carbon, avoiding greenwashing.

In supporting low-carbon transformation, East Asia China relies on the group’s net-zero plans for high-carbon industries, providing not only funding but also value-added services for carbon reduction, setting mid-term emission reduction targets for various high-carbon sectors, and helping clients implement decarbonization strategies to achieve net-zero emissions in financing. He clarified quantitative goals: over the next five years, East Asia China will maintain reasonable growth and proportion of green and sustainable finance, achieve net-zero operational emissions by 2030, and net-zero financed emissions by 2050.

Regarding outbound enterprises, Bi Mingqiang observed that Chinese companies going abroad now face not only traditional market access issues but also increasing ESG requirements from international clients and supply chains, including carbon emissions, environmental compliance, information disclosure, employee safety, and governance transparency. To some extent, ESG has become a “basic entry ticket” for global competition.

Based on this, he analyzed East Asia China’s advantages: first, rooted in the domestic market while possessing the group’s international network and cross-border service foundation; second, with a deep understanding of international rules and standards. He explained that in financing activities, East Asia China follows not only China’s green finance standards but also adheres to the EU Sustainable Activities Classification, green loan principles, and sustainability-linked loan standards, along with Hong Kong Monetary Authority’s climate risk and sustainable finance standards. The group has joined the Principles for Responsible Banking, the Carbon Accounting Financial Alliance, and signed the Belt and Road Green Investment Principles.

“East Asia China understands both the local operating environment and how to help clients better connect with international market requirements, providing ESG-related training, product design, and various financial services for cross-border investment and trade,” Bi Mingqiang concluded.

Text by Wang Xinyu Editing by Xu Nan