On June 8, the bell ringing ceremony was held at Nasdaq Dubai, to celebrate DIFC Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China for its listed trading of USD 500 million medium-term note. The large screen of Nasdaq in New York concurrently displayed the congratulations information. Earlier, this medium-term note had been formally listed at Nasdaq Dubai on May 27, representing the first Chinese commercial bank issuing USD bond in the Gulf region, and the first Chinese bank that has its USD bond successfully traded at Nasdaq Dubai. The bond was oversubscribed by five times, creating a great success.

An official with ICBC DIFC Branch said that by issuing USD bond in Dubai, the Bank has effectively lowered financing costs and expanded its influence in the financial sector in the Gulf region. DIFC Branch will take this opportunity to keep  improving its operation and management, deepen cooperation with more business partners, and provide high-quality financial services to facilitate the implementation of China’s “One Belt and One Road” strategy.

In recent years, ICBC has accelerated its financial expansion in the Gulf region by focusing on the economic and trade ties between China and the Gulf region as well as financial service demands of enterprises “going global”. It has successfully build up a financial service chain covering ABU Dhabi, Kuwait, Dubai, Doha and Riyadh, in a bid to deliver comprehensive financial services to boost economic and trade ties between the two regions and the implementation of “One Belt and One Road” strategy. ICBC established ICBC (Middle East) Limited in 2008, which was changed to DIFC Branch of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in 2013. This move could further improve its business layout and, through online and offline channels, render diversified financial services to customers from both nations.