BEIJING, March 1: China Minsheng Bank has been given the green light by regulators to buy a stake in UCBH Holdings Inc, in the first strategic investment by a Chinese lender in a US bank, state media reported.

The State Administration of Foreign Exchange has given the go-ahead for China Minsheng to take a 4.9pc stake in the US lender, in a deal worth US$95 million, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a company statement.

The deal is the first tranche of China Minsheng’s proposal to take a 20 per cent stake in the San Francisco-based firm, which is the holding company for United Commercial Bank, by the summer of 2009, the report said.

The bank primarily serves Chinese communities in the US and American firms doing business in China, the report added.

The purchase is aimed at helping China Minsheng improve its asset management and develop a full range of financial services.

The plan is still thought to require approval from US regulators, at a time when Chinese banks are expanding their overseas presence and US banks are trying to gain greater access to the Chinese market.

Last October, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China reached a deal to spend $5.5bn on 20pc of S. Africa’s Standard Bank, in the largest Chinese acquisition in the financial field ever.

It also entered into agreements to acquire a controlling stake in Indonesia’s Halim Bank in December 2006 and Macau’s Seng Heng Bank in August 2007.

Reports have linked American giants, including Citigroup and Morgan Stanley, with a series of possible joint ventures in China, but there remains resistance to allowing foreign lenders greater access to the domestic market.---AFP