The ANZ Group almost doubles investment in its Chinese subsidiary to about A$695 mln (about NZ$899 mln)

Australia's ANZ Banking Group, owner of New Zealand's ANZ and National banks, UDC Finance and fund manager OnePath, is investing A$300 million (about NZ$388 million) in its locally incorporated Chinese subsidiary, almost doubling the capital it has tipped into the business.

ANZ says it's investing the additional 2 billion Renminbi in Australia and New Zealand Bank (China) Company Limited, to support its continued growth. ANZ was the first Australian bank to be locally incorporated in China in 2010. The fresh capital follows an initial investment of 2.5 billion Renminbi, about A$395 million, bringing total registered capital to 4.5 billion Renminbi, or about A$695 million. The new investment is subject to regulatory approvals.

 “Our business in China has grown steadily since we established a presence in 1986 and the additional capital we plan to invest in ANZ China will support further network expansion, growth in customer lending, employee recruitment and product development to better service our customers," ANZ Group CEO Mike Smith said.

“ANZ aims to become a super regional bank in the Asia Pacific region, and China is a strategically important market for us. We are making good progress towards our goal of earning 25% to 30% of group profit from outside Australia and New Zealand by 2017," Smith added.

The group's recent half-year results showed A$419 million, or about 14.4%, of its A$2.919 billion profit coming from its Asia, Pacific, Europe and America division.

In March, ANZ also became the first Australian bank to receive a retail Renminbi license, meaning it can offer a range of Renminbi-related products and services to locals in China.

Smith, a former HSBC executive, launched ANZ's "Super Regional Strategy" in September 2008, around the height of the global financial crisis. At the time Smith said the aim was to shift ANZ away from a collection of standalone product and customer businesses to simpler, larger business structures aligned with the geography and customers they serve. He said it would reduce the management layers between him and customers' serving staff from up to 12 to about seven.

At the time Smith said that after 15 years of economic growth ANZ was heading into a "very different" environment.

"Our new structure puts ANZ into the best possible shape to take advantage of this new reality and accelerate our progress towards becoming a super regional bank and more customer-focused."

The bank has since expanded in Asia notably through buying the Asian retail, wealth and commercial operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland in a A$685 million deal.

ANZ has six branches, or outlets, in China with these in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou. It says it aims to increase its network to 20 within a decade, subject to regulatory approval. It also has 20% stakes in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank and Bank of Tianjin, and a fully-owned rural bank in Liangping county, the Chongqing Liangping ANZ Rural Bank Co Ltd.