BEIJING, June 2 -- Bank of China Ltd and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC are moving ahead in their credit card joint venture, an executive from the Edinburgh-based company said yesterday, the Associated Press reported.

    Officials from the two banks "are physically doing it," Donald Workman, investment director of corporate markets at Royal Bank of Scotland, said on the sidelines of a China investment conference. "We have people on the ground."

    The credit card joint venture is part of a strategic cooperation agreement between the two banks. A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland paid US$3.1 billion for a 9.6 percent strategic stake in the Chinese bank in January.

    When asked if the joint venture still needed regulatory approval for its public launch, Workman said: "I don't think that's the issue."

    He declined to comment on how many credit cards the two companies will issue under the partnership, but noted that it will include Bank of China's existing credit card business.

    Regarding the two banks' other partnership, a wealth-management joint venture, Workman said officials "are still in the process of deciding what the business will look like."

    Bank of China's shares debuted on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange yesterday and ended their first day of trade with a 15.3 percent gain, bucking an overall 1.3 percent decline in the benchmark Hang Seng Index. The bank raised US$9.7 billion in its initial public offering, the world's largest IPO since 2000 and China's biggest ever.

    Zhang Yanling, a managing director and executive vice president of Bank of China, told Dow Jones Newswires yesterday that the proceeds from the IPO would be used for domestic operations rather than abroad. She did not elaborate.

    (Source: Shanghai Daily)