South Korea's state-run Industrial Bank of Korea (IBK) said Wednesday it has
opened an office in the city of Wuhan in China's central region in a bid to help
smaller Korean firms operating there.
The IBK said it opened an office
on Tuesday in the province of Hubei, marking its tenth operation in the world's
second-largest economy.
The state-run lender said it plans to provide
financial support to Korean firms operating there and eventually make further
forays into China's growing inner provinces.
Currently, the IBK has 16
overseas operations including a wholly-owned unit in China. The bank said it
plans to add two more offices in China by the end of this year and will open an
operation in Beijing in 2013.
The IBK mostly caters to small and
medium enterprises in South Korea.