OCBC and Bank of Ningbo have extended their strategic partnership for another 10 years, deepening a two-decade alliance aimed at capturing growing trade, investment, wealth and business flows between ASEAN and Greater China.
The new strategic cooperation agreement builds on a partnership dating back to 2006 and is expected to strengthen synergies between the two banks as cross-border activity between China and Southeast Asia continues to expand.
OCBC said its collaboration with Bank of Ningbo, alongside the establishment of China Business Offices across ASEAN markets beyond Singapore in 2019, has supported strong growth in cross-border business. The bank recorded a 50% increase in new-to-bank Chinese companies expanding into ASEAN in 2025.
The expansion comes as China remains ASEAN’s largest trading partner, with bilateral trade exceeding US$1 trillion for the first time in 2025.
OCBC Group Chief Executive Officer Tan Teck Long said the renewed agreement reflected the depth of trust between both organisations and their confidence in the ASEAN-Greater China growth corridor.
“Further renewing our partnership for 10 years reflects the deep trust between both organisations and the shared conviction in the growth trajectory of the ASEAN-Greater China corridor,” he said.
The agreement will also extend cooperation in talent development. OCBC will continue a US$5 million training grant first established in 2006 to support staff training, knowledge sharing, secondments and leadership exchange programmes. More than 1,000 employees from the two banks have benefited from the initiative.
The agreement was signed by Tan and Bank of Ningbo president Feng Peijiong in Ningbo, witnessed by OCBC chairman Andrew Lee and Bank of Ningbo chairman Zhuang Lingjun.
Bank of Ningbo, one of China’s 21 domestic systemically important banks, was the country’s largest city commercial bank by market capitalisation as at Sept 11, 2026. It posted a net profit of RMB16.6 billion for the first half of 2026, up 12% year-on-year.
OCBC first invested in Ningbo Commercial Bank in 2006 with a 12.2% stake, before raising its shareholding to the maximum permitted 20% in 2014. The banks subsequently entered a 10-year strategic cooperation agreement in 2017.
