	china s first joint venture bank reports profit china s first joint venture bank xiamen international bank xib reported a group net profit of about mln hong kong dlrs in the bank s first full year of operation general manager liu shuxun declined to give a profit forecast saying targets were under study assistant general manager wang hongshan said the group s outstanding loans at end totalled mln hong kong dlrs up from mln at end deposits and interbank borrowings rose to mln dlrs from mln he told reuters liu said most of the group s profit came from the parent company rather than its two wholly owned subsidiaries xiamen international finance co ltd in hong kong and luso international bank ltd in macao the joint venture bank began operating in september but did not officially open until march liu said the share in the joint venture of the foreign partner hong kong listed panin holdings ltd had been cut last year to pct from pct this was done because foreign banks felt the xib s reputation would be improved if the three chinese partners collectively held a majority stake he said liu said news reports about problems concerning panin were unfounded but he did not elaborate panin holdings reported a loss of mln hong kong dlrs in after a net profit of dlrs in the chinese partners are industrial and commercial bank of china fujian branch whose share rose to pct from fujian investment and enterprise corporation pct and xiamen construction and development corporation pct one foreign banker said xiamen international bank faced the same problems as foreign bank branches in trying to compete on unequal terms with state owned banks the foreign banking market in xiamen is thin and almost saturated he added officials of the joint venture bank said they benefitted from contacts made through its three chinese partners but the foreign banker who asked not to be named said it faced internal competition from the industrial and commercial bank apart from xiamen international bank and the international agricultural development bank planned by the world bank and the state owned agricultural bank of china xiamen has eight foreign bank branches or representative offices mostly of hong kong or overseas chinese banks reuter 
