Kyodo News reported that Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp has signed a strategic alliance agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China on shipping finance in an effort to expand the business globally.

The report added that under the agreement Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp, the core banking unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc, and the major Chinese national bank will cooperate in shipping finance as well as shipping finance advisory services. It said they will exchange personnel to share know-how and information in the shipping finance business and introduce potential clients.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp said ICBC is a major provider of shipping finance in China, the world's core shipping market, and is the world's largest bank in terms of market capitalization as of the end of 2007 with the largest domestic branch network in China.

Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp is one of the major shipping finance providers in the world and ranked among the top 10 providers in the business in 2007 for the second straight year, according to the Japanese bank.