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QuoteDuncan Mavin in Hong Kong, Financial Post   Published: Thursday, August 21, 2008
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As of today, there should be no remaining doubts as to the tectonic shift in the global economy -- the world's largest and most profitable bank is Chinese.

While banks in North America and Europe are still counting massive credit crunch losses, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China has surged ahead of its international competitors thanks to a booming domestic economy that has dramatically boosted profits.

In a statement from Beijing last night, ICBC said its half yearly earnings jumped an astonishing 57% to US$9.4-billion, up from US$5.9-billion last year.

The results catapult ICBC ahead of international global powerhouse HSBC PLC -- the most profitable bank in the world last year -- where earnings fell 29% in the first six months of 2008 to US$7.7-billion. Even before Thursday's earnings announcement, ICBC was already the world's biggest bank with a market capitalization of about US$235-billion.

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