Standard Chartered Bank said Wednesday that it will launch personal renminbi (RMB) deposit, remittance, exchange and some other services from February 25.

Peter Wong, director of the British-based bank, said at a televised conference that the bank, one of the three currency issuing banks in Hong Kong, will announce RMB's deposit rate next week.

He said that while extending banking services in Hong Kong, the group will promote its services in the Chinese mainland, as the bank is confident in China's economic growth in the coming years.

Wong said the group has planned to register a local company in Hong Kong, in an effort to cash in on the business opportunities to be offered by the Chinese mainland/Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA), which was launched on Jan. 1 this year.

Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited (BOCHK), the RMB clearing bank in Hong Kong announced earlier this month that it would launch RMB clearing services in Hong Kong from Feb. 25 for 40 Hong Kong participating banks which are engaged in personal RMB services in relation to deposits, exchange and remittance.

Standard Chartered Bank, one of the earliest bank that entered into China, became operational in Hong Kong in 1859. The Hong Kong Branch of the bank's profit before taxation in 2003 stood at 3.325billion HK dollars (US$4.36 billion), up 16.4 percent over the previous year.

(China Daily February 19, 2004)