lender planned to add around 20 outlets in China. 78 “We are focused on leveraging opportunities as quickly as we are able to,” Richard Yorke, chief executive of HSBC Bank (China) Co., said on the...

lender planned to add around 20 outlets in China. 78 “We are focused on leveraging opportunities as quickly as we are able to,” Richard Yorke, chief executive of HSBC Bank (China) Co., said on the sidelines of the annual Boao Forum, a gathering of government and business leaders on the southern Chinese island of Hainan. “Last year we opened 19 new outlets, including three new branches. We expect this year to be able to open at least that number.” For HSBC, the largest foreign bank in China, extending its presence to more cities in the country will allow it to not only capitalize on China’s rapid economic growth, but also assist Chinese multinational companies looking to expand overseas, Mr. Yorke said. 79 In addition, HSBC has been strengthening its presence in China’s rural areas, targeting the two-thirds of the nation’s 1.3 billion population, who lack easy access to funding sources. Providing financial services to people who don’t live in China’s large cities has become a concern for Beijing’s leadership in recent years, as China’s rural population continues to miss out on the strong economic growth and rising living standards in the country’s urban areas. 80 The bank announced it had set up seven standalone rural-banking branches in China since August 2007, and hoped to maintain the growth rate to expand HSBC’s ruralbanking business in the coming years.