MOSCOW, February 8. /TASS/. VTB plans to open offices in Beijing and some other Chinese cities in the near future, President and Chairman of the Management Board of Russia’s second-biggest lender Andrey Kostin said at a meeting with Primorye’s Governor Oleg Kozhemyako.

Currently VTB has a branch in Shanghai and a representative office in Beijing.

"We are the only bank that has had a full-fledged branch in Shanghai for more than 15 years already, and we are involved in its serious development now. We are opening offices both in Beijing and a number of other Chinese cities in the near future. We have a license for operations with rubles and yuan, and we service a certain flow of international trade turnover today," Kostin was quoted as saying by VTB’s press service.

VTB "could play a more important role in the expansion of relations between the region’s small and mid-sized entrepreneurs and Chinese (business representatives - TASS)," he added.

Kostin said earlier that VTB wanted to turn its bank in Shanghai into a reference credit organization for servicing trade between Russia and China.