On January 26, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China announced the opening of a new branch in Antwerp. This branch will be the second ICBC branch in Belgium after Brussels, which was established in 2011.

President of the ICBC, Jiang Jianqing, said in his speech at the opening ceremony that "this year is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belgium, and the opening of the ICBC Antwerp branch is of great significance at the time, showing our determination to expand business in Belgium and deepen financial cooperation, and also a strategic move to push forward the Belt and Road initiative."

The launch of an ICBC branch in Antwerp is not surprising. Antwerp boasts one of the largest ports in the world and is an important harbor city along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road that was put forth in Xi Jinping's "Belt and Road" initiative. Moreover, Belgium is an important EU trade partner for China; China in turn is the largest investor of Belgium in Asia. In the past ten years the trade volume between the two countries has marked an annual growth of 16%.

The office building of ICBC Antwerp is located opposite of the Antwerp National Bank.

Source: ICBC