On March 19, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and South Africa's Standard Bank (Standard Bank) held a strategic cooperation conference in Beijing. Based on the "Business Cooperation Agreement", the both parties will establish a long-term reciprocal and strategic cooperation partnership to conduct business cooperation in China, Africa and other regions.

ICBC Board Chairman Jianqing Jiang said the two parties intend to co-establish a PE management company. They plan to raise approximately US$1B of global resource fund to invest metal, oil and natural gas projects. With regard to the capital source, Mr. Jiang said the two parties will invest US$200M each, and the rest US$600M will be raised from other institutions.

This conference marks the strategic cooperation between ICBC and Standard Bank entered a full-execution phase. They will seek cooperative opportunities in trade financing, international settlement, investment funds, commodities, global market, and investment banking.