• Signing ceremony hosted by the Chinese President Xi Jinping and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel
• Partners to explore joint business opportunities in offshore renminbi market
• Bank of China to become a trading and clearing participant
• CEO Francioni: good progress in Asia

Deutsche Börse and Bank of China today announced their strategic cooperation at a signing ceremony in Berlin hosted by President Xi Jinping and Chancellor Angela Merkel. The Chinese head of state is currently on a state visit to Germany.

The strategic partnership will see Bank of China become a trading and clearing participant of Deutsche Börse Group and will give Chinese issuers and Asian investors the opportunity to directly access German and European capital markets, for example through IPOs.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel

“The extended cooperation between Bank of China and Deutsche Börse will foster the safety and stability of capital markets and stimulate economic growth. Both nations will benefit from it. At the same time, it is an important milestone in the further implementation of our company’s strategy. We are making good progress in Asia”, said Reto Francioni, CEO of Deutsche Börse.

The agreement also calls on the two companies to develop the financial infrastructure needed to underpin further cooperation between China and Germany and to support the internationalization of the renminbi by promoting Frankfurt as the European offshore centre for the currency .

Deutsche Börse and Bank of China entered into a preferred partnership in December 2013 and continue to explore the scope for further cooperation across the value chain in their respective regions.

 About Deutsche Börse Group

Deutsche Börse Group is one of the world’s leading service providers for the securities industry with a product and service offering for issuers, investors, intermediaries and data vendors. The Group covers the entire process chain from trading, through clearing, to settlement and securities custody. Furthermore, Deutsche Börse offers market data, indices and analyses and is a service provider for the development and operation of IT systems.

About Bank of China
As China’s most international and diversified bank, Bank of China provides a comprehensive range of financial services to customers across the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and 37 overseas countries. The Bank’s core business is commercial banking, including corporate banking, personal banking and financial markets services. The group’s wholly owned subsidiaries run investment banking, insurance business and undertake the direct investment and investment management business. Their controlled subsidiaries operate the fund management and aircraft leasing business. From 2011 to 2013, Bank of China became the only Global Systemically Important Financial Institution within the emerging economy countries for three consecutive years. By the end of 2012 the total assets of Bank of China had reached 12,680 Billion RMB.