Citigroup yesterday signed a deal with Shanghai Bading Property Development Co Ltd to move its China headquarters to a new building in the center of Lujiazui.

Construction of the 42-floor building - to be named Citigroup Tower - is expected to be completed by 2005.

Citigroup will take four floors and plans to move its corporate, investment and consumer banking businesses to the tower.

A Citibank retail branch will be opened on the building's ground floor.

Stephen Long, chief executive of Citigroup's Corporate & Investment Bank, Asia-Pacific, said: "Having our major businesses in one location naturally promotes synergy throughout our China operations."

This is the second building named after an international financial institution.

Two years ago, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) renamed a 46-floor office building, which houses its China headquarters, into HSBC Tower at a cost of US$33 million.

Citigroup refused to reveal how much they spent on the deal.

After a decade of rapid development, the Pudong area has been working hard to attract both domestic and international financial institutions to set up in the area.

"Forging an international financial centre is a sophisticated and systematic project, involving the influx of market players, financial innovation and security, as well as improving infrastructure and environment," said Shanghai Mayor Chen Liangyu at a working conference earlier this year.

He added that Shanghai will create a better market environment to attract more financial institutions to the city.

Shanghai stands at the forefront of the nation's financial reform, offering financial incentives, a large talent pool, good infrastructure and economic base.

This has turned the city into the country's financial hub, attracting more foreign players than the rest of the country.

(China Daily December 17, 2002)