Established in 1935, KBC is an integrated bancassurance group, catering mainly for retail customers, small and medium-sized enterprises and private banking clientele. It occupies leading positions on its home markets of Belgium and Central and Eastern Europe, where it specialises in retail bancassurance and asset management activities. Elsewhere around the globe, the Group has established a presence in selected countries and regions. Our Shanghai branch operation has been established since May 1997. At the end of March 2002, we acquired the approval from The People’s Bank of China to conduct CNY business. We formally launch our CNY business in the beginning of August 2002. We aim at providing flexible and quality corporate banking services with competitive pricing to our selected target customers. Our strengths lie in our strong presence in Belgium, Central and Eastern Europe where we are one of the leading banks. We also have a good network of branches in various countries in Europe and in Asia. We have an advantage in providing professional services to customers who have presence in two or more of these countries.