CHINA Banking Corp. (China Bank) will open its first business center in Cebu today.

'The opening of China Bank’s first business center in Cebu underscores the Bank’s continued commitment to the development of this Southern province,” said Samuel Chiong, senior vice president and deputy group head for the branch banking.

The China Bank Cebu Business Center is the first phase of the planned development of the bank’s 1,574-square-meter property in Cebu Business Park (CBP).

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To be constructed at a later date is an adjacent 14-story class-A office tower which will have a gross floor area of 7,621 square meters.

Amenities

The China Bank Tower will feature a wide range of superior tenant amenities, landscaped courtyards and gardens as well as retail shops and restaurants.

The official blessing and inaugural ceremonies of the business center in will coincide with China Bank’s 61st anniversary in Cebu.

Special guests

Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama will lead the ribbon-cutting and he will be assisted by China Bank client, Elvira G. Luym, president of Kelvaye Corp., and China Bank’s Hans T. Sy, vice chairman and Ricardo R. Chua, executive vice president and chief operating officer.

Sy will deliver a keynote message and will likewise lead the toast.

Features

Completed in April 2009, the 1,780-square-meter China Bank Cebu Business Center, a modern two-story building with roofdeck, houses China Bank’s 14th branch in Cebu, China Bank Cebu Business Park Branch, which began operations last April 24, as well as the Bank’s other marketing and operational units and the regional and area offices.

At the opening ceremonies of the branch, Chiong, said that China Bank is going full speed ahead with its expansion plans despite the challenging times, targeting to open 30 more branches this year.

Expansion

“China Bank has been expanding at a fast rate in the recent years which is part of our strategic move to bring the China Bank experience to a wider market. In fact, our network size has almost doubled since 2005 and we are looking at a 300-strong branch network by 2010,” he said.

Chiong also noted that Cebu is where China Bank opened its first branch outside Metro Manila and that it was among the first banks in Cebu.

The architectural design for the entire 9,341-square-meter project was undertaken by one of the top architectural firms in the Philippines, Jose Siao Ling and Associates. (PR)