Citi names veteran Li as banking head of China’s Belt and Road Initiative
HONG KONG: Citigroup Inc said on yesterday it has appointed veteran Beibei Li as its head of Belt and Road Initiative- related banking and origination businesses, as western banks bet on China’s drive to build a modern- day Silk Road to create business opportunities.
In the newly created role, Li, who joined Citi in 1999, will oversee Citi’s banking focus around Belt and Road Initiative and will relocate from New York to Hong Kong, the US bank said.
Li will report to Citi’s head of corporate banking in Asia Pacific Gerald Keefe.
Introduced in 2013, the Belt and Road project is aimed at building a modernday economic Silk Road, connecting China by land and sea to Southeast Asia, Pakistan and Central Asia, and beyond to the Middle East, Europe and Africa.
Global banks including Citi, HSBC and Standard Chartered have been boosting their staff and presence for offerings — from capital market solutions to hedging — as the belt and road drive fuels demand.
In April, HSBC, which made over 75 per cent of its profit in Asia in 2017, named its Malaysia chief executive Mukhtar Hussain to the newly created position of head of Belt and Road initiative in Asia Pacific.
Citi’s Keefe said the newly created position would help align the bank’s strategic priorities, connect product and coverage partners, and drive further business opportunit ies across the Belt and Road network. — Reuters
He sa i d among the s e uncertainties was the trade war between the United States ( US) and China.
“The currencies of many countries fall ( because of the trade war), not just Malaysia,” he told reporters after officiating the Cardiac Vascular Sentral Hospital yesterday.
He said the ringg i t ’ s performance was actually better when compared with other currencies globally.
“If (we) compare Malaysia with some other countries, the value of Malaysia’s currency rises,” he said.
At the close yesterday, the ringgit was traded at 4.1020/1050 compared with the US dollar from 4.0950/1000 on Tuesday.
However, the local unit strengthened against a basket of major currencies, among them the Singapore dollar, Japanese yen, British pound and euro. — Bernama