OCBC Extends Bank of Ningbo Partnership as 20 Percent Shareholder

OCBC has extended its partnership with Bank of Ningbo for another 10 years as more Chinese companies expand into Southeast Asia.

The new agreement continues a relationship that began in 2006 and aims to deepen cooperation across ASEAN and Greater China.

OCBC recorded a 50 percent increase in new-to-bank Chinese companies expanding into ASEAN in 2025, reaching a record high.

China has been ASEAN’s largest trading partner since 2009, with bilateral trade surpassing US$1 trillion for the first time in 2025.

Under the renewed agreement, OCBC will continue a US$5 million training grant supporting staff training, knowledge sharing, secondments and leadership exchanges.

More than 1,000 employees from both banks have taken part in the programme.

OCBC Group CEO Tan Teck Long signed the agreement with Bank of Ningbo President Feng Peijiong in Ningbo.

Tan said,

“Bank of Ningbo has been an invaluable strategic partner. Over the past two decades, we have built what is one of the most successful partnerships between a foreign bank and a Chinese bank.

Our collaboration has generated significant synergies across wholesale banking and wealth management, delivering meaningful value to the franchises of both banks.”

Bank of Ningbo is one of China’s 21 domestic systemically important banks and was the country’s largest city commercial bank by market capitalisation as of 11 September 2026.

It reported net profit of RMB16.6 billion for the first half of 2026, up 12 percent from a year earlier.

OCBC first acquired a 12.2 percent stake in Ningbo Commercial Bank in 2006.

The lender was renamed Bank of Ningbo in 2007, and OCBC increased its holding to the maximum permitted 20 percent in 2014.

The two banks signed their previous 10-year strategic cooperation agreement in 2017.

Featured image: OCBC Group CEO Tan Teck Long (right) signed the new strategic cooperation agreement with Bank of Ningbo President Feng Peijiong (left), in the presence of OCBC Chairman Andrew Lee (second row, fifth from left) and Bank of Ningbo Chairman Zhuang Lingjun (second row, fourth from left).