By 2002 the active shareholders of the bank comprised the Asian conglomerate Charoen Pokphand (CP) group and the DEG investing subsidiary of KfW – the state-owned development bank of Germany.  These shareholders determined a strategic shift for the bank in answer to clearly defined political, economic and commercial criteria.    

By 2003 the bank had entirely refocused its primary business effort exclusively on the Small & Medium Size Enterprise corporate sector in China – making BDB arguably unique as a financial institution in China. Initial operations were based on a banking licence permitting the offering of foreign currency financial services Foreign Invested Enterprises in China.

United Commercial Bank (“UCB”) completed its acquisition of Business Development Bank (“BDB”) in December 2007. The BDB name was changed subsequently to United Commercial Bank (China) Limited and now operates as a subsidiary of UCB.

BDB was the first foreign-owned bank to be incorporated in China and registered with the PRC Central Bank in 1992. With its origins in Shantou, BDB moved its headquarters to Shanghai in 1996, retaining its domestic network consisting of a branch in Shantou and Representative Offices in Beijing and Guangzhou. By 2003 the bank had entirely refocused its primary business effort exclusively on the small and medium size enterprise corporate sector, making BDB a unique financial institution in China. With the support of its shareholders, United Commercial Bank (China) Limited will strengthen its capability to provide trade finance facilities to small and medium sized enterprise customers in China. It will also take advantage of the presence of UCB on both sides of the Pacific to offer additional banking services to its customers.

United Commercial Bank (“UCB”), with headquarters in San Francisco, U.S.A., is a leading bank in the United States serving Chinese communities and American companies doing business in Greater China. It provides commercial banking services to small and medium sized businesses and professionals in a variety of industries, as well as consumer and private banking services to individuals. With assets of $11.8 billion as of December 31, 2007, the Bank has 51 branches/offices located in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento, Stockton, Los Angeles and Orange counties, eight branches in New York, five branches in metropolitan Atlanta, three branches in New England, two branches in the Pacific Northwest, a branch in Houston, a branch in Hong Kong, and representative offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen, China, and Taipei, Taiwan.