Guangzhou Rural Commercial Bank GRC Bank is on course to become the third rural lender to list in Hong Kong after it launched an initial public offering on Monday to raise as much as HK$8.3 billion $1.1 billion.
Like Chongqing Rural Commercial Bank and Jilin Jiutai Rural Commercial Bank before it, the Guangzhou-based regional lender will hope to distinguish itself from China's large commercial banks thanks to its stronger reach to rural customers and small- and medium-sized enterprises.
At the same time the bank will hope that its extensive network in Guangzhou, capital city of China’s wealthiest Guangdong province, can give it a distinct edge...