Bank of China plans to double its mortgage lending in Australia in two years, while offering more home loans to local Australians.
In an interview with the
Australian Financial Review last week, the head of the bank’s Australian arm Shanjun Hu said that Bank of China hopes to reach more non-Chinese borrowers in the country through a product distribution agreement with
Australian Finance Group.
“I think more and more also the local Australians will be our customers,” Hu said. Australia’s market “needs the capital, the investment from outside.”
According to APRA data, Bank of China increased its share of the Australian mortgage market by 13% on last year. The lender held $672 million of Australian mortgages as of 30 September this year. Hu told the Australian Financial Review that he hopes the bank can double that amount “in the coming two years”.
Typically, the lender’s customers are people of Chinese origin who come to the bank through Chinese brokers based in Australia. However, after signing the agreement with
AFG in October, they will be offering products initially through brokers in the state of New South Wales before expanding into other regions.
Mark Hewitt, general manager of sales and operations at AFG said 25% of the business the brokerage generates in New South Wales is for either people of Chinese origin or overseas Chinese investors, so “there’s just a natural fit there with Bank of China”.
