Lender bets on global growth in changing world of finance

Editor's Note: An increasing number of Chinese companies are emerging on the world stage as they strive to establish their brands outside the country. This report, the eighth in the series, is by Jiang Xueqing.

As Chinese companies assume a more prominent role on the global business stage, Bank of China Ltd is following and supporting them.

The State-backed lender sees the overseas market as a major battlefield, and that part of its business has been expanding at a record pace. Its pre-tax profits from overseas operations were up 29.9 percent last year to $8.66 billion, or 23 percent of the total for the lender, up 3.6 percentage points from the previous year.