State Bank of India to open second Chinese branch

Will be located in Tianjin, the largest coastal city in northern China.

The State Bank of India's second branch in China will have a capital of $50 million. It is expected to open at the end of February, said Dinesh Sharma, Chief Executive Officer of SBI, Shanghai branch.

"We hope to access the northern part of China through Tianjin. We have mostly focused on eastern China operating from Shanghai so far," Sharma said.

SBI already has a capital base of US$76 million for the Shanghai branch. With US$123 million at its disposal, the bank says it has a lot of scope for expanding business.

With over 14,000 branches, SBI is the largest banking and financial services company in India.