(Yicai Global) March 27 -- Standard Chartered is optimistic about the Chinese economy this year as the country’s economic activities rebound faster than expected. The UK lender has also made good progress with a USD300 million investment scheme it has in China-related businesses, the firm’s chief executive officer told Yicai Global in a recent interview.

"Standard Chartered is more upbeat than most institutions on China's gross domestic product growth this year and predicts a gain of 5.8 percent," Bill Winters said. The country will continue to be the largest investment market in the bank's global network and play a key role in its future development.

Standard Chartered has also moved faster than expected on a USD300 million investment plan in China-related businesses over the next three years that it announced in 2022, Winters said. The firm is investing in cross-border Chinese yuan infrastructure, including exchange rate risk management, currency risk management and local payment settlement systems. It has also hiked investment in wealth managements' products and services.

The investments were both onshore and offshore and covered systems, people and branches, said Jerry Zhang, president of the bank's China arm. The London-based lender made a great effort to invest in the digitization of financial products, including updates and upgrades of personal banking apps.

In the future, Standard Chartered's China business will focus on four areas, namely cross border payments and investment, foreign exchange and forex risks management, projects related to the 'Belt and Road Initiative' as well as green investment and sustainable finance.

Despite the fluctuations in the global economy in the past few years, China remains the market that contributes the most in Standard Chartered's global network, and has maintained two-digit business growth in the last three years, Winters said.

“We target long-term investments in the Chinese market and thus don't need short-term upward blips in economic indicators to help us make this decision," he said. "But we are also very glad to see that, in the short run, China's economic recovery looks rosy."

Editors: Xu Wei, Kim Taylor