China Construction Bank signs $500m deal to base Aircraft Leasing Division in Ireland
CCB Leasing International (CCBLI) today announced the establishment of its international headquarters in Ireland. CCBLI is a wholly owned subsidiary of China Construction Bank (CCB), one of the world’s largest companies.
CCBLI plans to grow its aircraft leasing business from 17 to 200 aircraft over the next five years.
China Construction Bank is the fourth largest bank in the world with €2,079 billion market value and 372,321 employees. CCB’s presence in Ireland means that five out of top six banks in China have operations in Ireland
“Ireland is an ideal launch pad for European, African and American markets and we aim to expand into shipping and other leasing activities from our Irish base in the future,” said Mr Hongzhang Wang, Chairman of China Construction Bank at the opening ceremony.
In a bilateral meeting with Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash following the ceremony, Mr. Wang and senior CCB officials discussed CCBLI’s performance strategy nd outlined their growth plan for Ireland.
Minister Nash said, “I am very pleased on behalf of the Government to officially
welcome the establishment of CCBLI’s international headquarters in Ireland. Aircraft Leasing is an industry we have deliberately targeted as part of the Action Plan for Jobs and we now have half of the world’s commercial aircraft fleet managed out of Ireland, creating employment for 1,200 people. With announcements like today’s from CCBLI I believe we have the opportunity to grow the industry even further. I wish Mr Wang and his colleagues well in their ambitious plans to expand.”
At the ceremony in Dublin’s Shelbourne Hotel this morning, CCBLI and IDA Ireland signed an official Memorandum of Understanding.
“The Memorandum of Understanding signifies our already strong relationship with the IDA and our commitment to Ireland,” said Mr. Jingpu Gu, Chairman of CCB Financial Leasing.
This morning Mr Lei Zhang, Vice President of CCB Financial Leasing and Mr Larry Chi, Head of Corporate Banking and Securities (China) at Deutsche Bank signed an agreement to provide CCBLI a $500 million financing facility.
Martin Shanahan CEO of IDA Ireland said: “China Construction Bank is an important part of IDA’s growing portfolio of Chinese leasing companies that now includes the leasing arms of five of the top six Chinese banks. Attracting investment from Asia is an important part of IDA’s global strategy and China is a key strategic market for us.”
Currently 50% of the world’s commercial aircraft fleet and over €83 billion in assets are managed out of Ireland and the aircraft leasing industry in Ireland currently employs more than 1,200 people.
