The Central Bank approved the opening of Alfa Bank branches in Beijing and Shanghai

The Bank of Russia approved Alfa Bank to open two branches in China, said the chief managing director of the credit institution, Vladimir Verkhoshinsky.

“We are now moving towards opening branches in China – in Shanghai, as the business capital, and Beijing, as the political capital. Our Central Bank, our Russian one, has just approved the opening of these two branches, and for this we specially thank the Central Bank,” – told Verkhoshinsky at the “Made in Russia” forum (quote from RIA Novosti).

He noted that the regulator approached this issue “super unbureaucratically,” thereby Alfa Bank saved three months of elective procedure. Now the credit institution is awaiting the decision of the Chinese regulator, Verkhoshinsky added.

That Alfa Bank is considering the opportunity to open a branch or representative office in China, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the bank Oleg Sysuev told Vedomosti in July. He noted that different projects are being considered, which are very different from each other, and their cost and duration of creation vary. Sysuev cited requests from clients as the reason for creating controlled infrastructure in China.

In September, Alfa Bank announced that the board of directors had decided to open full-fledged branches in two key cities in China and would send a set of documents to the Central Bank.