Australia and New Zealand Banking Group has been approved to set up a branch in Chongqing, its first branch in western China and its fourth in the PRC.

An increasing number of financial services companies are being drawn to the municipality as its economy develops. Chongqing’s GDP reached Rmb169.885bn in the first quarter of 2010, up 19.3 per cent year-on-year, according to Chongqing Statistics Bureau.