Resona Holdings Inc. has arranged for its clients in China to receive local currency loans and make settlement payments through Citigroup Inc.
"We don't have overseas branches so we introduce customers in China to local banks when they need yuan-based loans," said Masatoyo Miura, a spokesman for Resona in Tokyo. "We've added Citigroup's Chinese subsidiary to the banks we work with."
The agreement, which applies only to China, took effect in September, Miura said.
Resona is seeking to meet increasing demand from Japanese companies, the third-biggest group of overseas investors in China, for lending and settlement services in the world's fastest-growing major economy.