Last week, the Absa group announced its expansion into the People's Republic of China with the opening of a non-banking subsidiary in Beijing.

It is a new office that will enable the Absa Group to offer local support to Chinese clients and stakeholders to complete transactions across the African continent, helping to support clients' needs, objectives and ambitions.

The strategy, according to a statement released by Absa Bank, is part of a broader commitment by the group to "expand its operations with international representative offices in strategic markets and offer its foreign clients in-depth experience in African markets, as is already the case in New York and London".

Quoted in the same press release, the head of Corporate and Investment Banking, Patrícia Darsam, said that this initiative was a further sign of the group's growth and expansion. We are excited about the opening of the new office in Beijing, which we believe will allow us to grow our partnership with Chinese businesses and companies interested in establishing commercial relations with Mozambique, with Absa as their financial partner".

"Absa Bank's expansion into a dynamic market represents the unlocking of new avenues of growth and prosperity for Africa and China, reinforcing the ambition to extend the international strategy," reads the document, noting that the China-Africa investment relationship has flourished in recent decades, with China emerging as the continent's largest bilateral trading partner.

"This situation has been fueled by Chinese investment in Africa's vast natural resources and infrastructure projects, creating huge commercial opportunities for both regions," he continued.