ICBC Europe, the Luxembourg-based subsidiary of ICBC, will open branches in Amsterdam, Brussels, Madrid, Milan and Paris, doubling its presence in Europe to nine countries.
ICBC already has branches in Moscow, London, Frankfurt and Luxembourg.
ICBC chairman Jiang Jianqing said ICBC is the biggest bank in China and they have to follow their customers, who are increasingly operating abroad.
"Our long- term goal is to become a truly global bank," Jianqing said.
While ICBC is offering universal banking services in Europe, including deposits, loans, settlement, trade finance and investment banking, the initial focus will be on commercial-banking services to Chinese customers and, in a later stage, to European exporters.
ICBC has about 3.6 million business customers and 216 million private customers in China. It operates about 160 branches around the world.
