三井住友将增持香港东亚银行股份

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, one of the big three Japanese banking groups, is in the process of increasing its stake in Hong Kong’sBank of East Asia .

日本三大银行集团之一——三井住友金融集团(SMFG)正拟增加对香港东亚银行(Bank of East Asia)的持股。

The decision to increase its stake from 4.5 per cent to 9.9 per cent could be seen as an attempt by Sumitomo Mitsui’s to gain exposure to China by means of Bank of East Asia – with a big, profitable presence on the mainland – when fraught relations between Japan and China make that difficult.

三井住友决定将占东亚银行的股权比例从4.5%提升到9.9%。这一决定可以看成它试图通过东亚银行进入中国市常目前，由于中日之间的紧张关系，在华扩张业务变得十分困难。

Executives at both banks say the deal has been in progress for months and has more to do with personal connections between senior ranks at Sumitomo Mitsui and David Li, who has presided over Bank of East Asia for many years.

两家银行的高管表示，这宗交易已经谈了几个月，更多是得益于三井住友高层与执掌东亚银行多年的李国宝(David Li)之间的私人关系。

Recently, all the big Japanese banks have sought to identify themselves as pan-Asian banks to harness growth in the region. Growth in Japan has yet to recover from last year’s earthquake and tsunami.

近年来，日本各大银行都寻求将自己定位成泛亚洲银行，以利用亚太地区的增长。目前日本经济仍未从去年的地震与海啸中恢复过来。

Banks’ efforts to expand in China, the region’s engine, have often been stymied.

但在引领亚太区增长的中国，日资银行的扩张努力往往遭到阻碍。

In some cases, Japanese banks have been thwarted by Chinese regulators, and in others by their own ambivalence about how successful a Japanese bank can ever be in China, given the bitter historical legacy and the more recent confrontation over a group of contested islands.

日资银行遇到的阻碍部分来自中国监管机构的阻挠，另一部分则源于它们自己的矛盾心理。考虑到两国之间的历史遗留问题，以及最近两国之间围绕有争议岛屿的对抗，日资银行不得不思考它们在中国能取得多大的成功。

“China can’t be a meaningful market for us, said one Japanese banker.

一位日本银行家说：“中国无法成为我们的重要市常

Mr Li of Bank of East Asia says of relations with the big Japanese bank: “It is of mutual benefit. China is such a big and important market.

李国宝在谈到与三井住友的关系时表示：“这是互惠互利的事。中国市场是如此巨大而重要。

“It is unfortunate what happened, but in the short term it may be difficult for Japanese to expand in China.

“对于正在发生的事只能说很不幸，不过短期内日本想把业务扩展到中国会很困难。