Kazakhstan Stock Exchange (“KASE” for short) has recently announced opening of a RMB settlement account in ICBC (Almaty), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). It marks the official appointment of ICBC (Almaty) as RMB settlement bank by KASE, representing another important milestone after the bank became the RMB-KZT direct transaction market maker of the KASE at the beginning of the year.

In recent years, China has continued to deepen comprehensive strategic partnership, economic and trade exchange with Kazakhstan. Both countries have seen increasingly fruitful outcome in cooperative fields including energy, finance, agriculture and infrastructure. Conditions for the two countries to strengthen their currency cooperation have matured. Amid the implementation of the “Belt and Road” initiative, the RMB business has embraced much broader development prospect in Kazakhstan, as it is the first stop of China's land exit under the “Belt and Road” initiative. The qualification as a settlement bank of KASE is a key step for ICBC to advance the RMB strategy in Kazakhstan. The Bank will continue to boost RMB business in Kazakhstan as well as RMB internationalization progress.

So far, ICBC has acted as RMB clearing banks in seven countries including Singapore, Luxembourg, Qatar, Canada, Thailand, Argentina and Russia, becoming the world’s first commercial bank to offer uninterrupted RMB clearing and transaction services around the clock. It also offers clearing and settlement services to multiple bourses.

Founded in 1993, the KASE consists of foreign exchange market, negotiable securities market, bond market and derivatives financial instrument market, and is the only official foreign exchange and securities trading market in Kazakhstan. It is a financial capital market with the largest trading volume and the richest trading varieties in Central Asia. Members of the KASE cover nearly all banks and companies engaged in foreign exchange, bond, and derivative brokerages and agencies in Kazakhstan.