On September 12, Czech local time, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) officially launched its Prague Branch in the capital of the Czech Republic. Present at the opening ceremony were Jiri Rusnok, Governor of Czech's central bank, Gu Shu, President of ICBC, Ma Keqing, Chinese Ambassador to Czech, etc.ICBC also signed MOU with several outstanding local enterprises at the opening ceremony . Prior to its opening, ICBC Prague Branch obtained the banking license issued by Czech's central bank, making it the only branch set up by a non-EU bank in the country.

Mr. Gu Shu, President of ICBC, said at the opening ceremony that establishing a branch in Czech shows ICBC's confidence in the country's economic prospects and its determination to promote economic and trade ties between China and Czech. As an important part of ICBC's service network in Central and Eastern Europe, Prague Branch will uphold ICBC's business principle of “Focusing on Customers and Creating Value through Services” and rely on ICBC Group's international operation experiences and resources to carry out extensive cooperation with Czech financial institutions, continuously enhance its financial services, offer comprehensive financial services and facilities to Chinese enterprises investing and operating business in Czech and other areas of Central and Eastern Europe, provide more financial service choices to local enterprises in Czech, and actively contribute to the economic and social development of Czech. Meanwhile, Prague Branch will strictly conform to local laws and regulations, strengthen risk management, improve internal control and strive to become a renowned foreign bank that wins recognition from the regulator, approval from customers and trust from the public.

With a long history that binds us together, China and Czech have presented a sound bilateral relationship and broad prospects for economic and trade cooperation in recent years. China has been Czech's largest trade partner outside the EU for years, while Czech is China's second largest trade partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Increasingly closer economic and trade ties as well as investment between the two countries have laid a solid foundation for ICBC's business development in Czech. In April 2017, ICBC became the first non-EU bank that had been granted a banking license for a branch in Czech, setting the country's banking license record. After opening for business, ICBC Prague Branch will further enhance its services to Chinese enterprises in Czech, actively extend supports for the development of outstanding local industries such as auto-manufacturing, aviation, energy, high-tech materials through offering quality service to customers in the industries, and strive to become a bridge for economic and financial exchanges between China and Czech. 

In recent years, ICBC has taken the initiative to adapt to customers' demands for diversified financial services, to closely follow China's foreign trade and investment progress to refine its overseas business layout, and has seen an obvious enhancement in its capability of providing services globally. Up to now, ICBC has established institutions in 44 countries and regions all over the world, and extended its presence in 20 African countries indirectly through holding shares of the Standard Bank of South Africa. As a result, a financial service platform with a global network has taken shape that covers all international financial centers and regions with close economic and trade ties with China, which features a layered structure, reasonable positioning, diversified channels and efficient operation.