China’s top banking regulator announced o Sunday that it has given the nod to the establishment of a regional bank in the Tibet Autonomous Region, with initial capital totaling to 1.5 billion yuan ($233 million). The bank will be registered in Lhasa, the region’s capital, and funded by 15 institutions, including the regional government, domestic banking institutions and several leading enterprises, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a statement posted on its website.
The bank will be the first regional corporate bank in the region and also the first equity commercial lender to operate in the autonomous region since its establishment, the CBRC said.
The Bank of Communications, China’s fifth-largest lender, will be a strategic investor for the bank, the CBRC said.
The CBRC did not give a detailed timetable for the bank’s establishment.
xinhua