Commerzbank ups cross-border focus in Asia

BEIJING - Commerzbank, Germany's second-largest lender, announced on Monday ambitious plans with a cross-border focus for corporate customer business with China and Asia.

It expected its corporate banking business volume in the world's second-largest economy to increase by 20 percent this year alone, twice as high as that for Asia as a whole, said Michael Kotzbauer, an Asian region board member of the bank at a press conference in Beijing.

The bank will target German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that do business in China, and serve Chinese firms looking to do business in Germany with products ranging from loans and cash management to hedging products and consulting on purchasing companies.