By Selena Li
Hong Kong (Reuters) – ABRDN is in advanced conversations with Citic Bank to launch a joint venture for asset management in China, said two people with knowledge of the business, such as the British company in the second largest economy ter the world wants to strengthen.
The discussions follow a warming up in the British-sino relations and contrast with decisions of different Western financial institutions in recent years to reduce China jobs or suspend their expansion plans about the health of the Chinese economy and tensions between Beijing and Washington.
ABRDN, the second largest independent asset manager of the VK, expects to keep a majority interest in the company with the rest owned by CITIC Wealth, unit of CITIC Bank, said that the people who refused to be identified as the conversations confidential.
CITIC Wealth is the third largest bank management unit of bank management with 2 trillion Yuan ($ 275 billion) in assets from the end of the last year.
Abrdn refused to comment. Citic Bank, the most important bank bus of the Central Government Condition Group in China, did not respond to a request for comments from Reuters.
In recent years, ABRDN and CITIC BANK have been in discussions about setting up a company on the mainland of China or AbrdN who take an interest in Citic Wealth, the sources said.
The discussions received new impulse after the revival of economic and financial conversations at a high level between China and the UK last month after being frozen after almost six years last month, they added.
($ 1 = 7,2724 Chinese Yuan)
(Reporting by Selena Li; Edit by Sumeet Chatterjee and Edwina Gibbs)