Interview: Standard Chartered Bank Group CEO confident in China's economic prospects, eyeing more opportunities

by Xinhua writers Ren Jun, Pang Yuanyuan, Xia Zilin

BEIJING, Feb. 3 (Xinhua) -- "Stable and predictable, energetic and forward-looking," that was how Bill Winters, group chief executive of Standard Chartered, described the Chinese economy in a recent interview with Xinhua.

"Especially in this world with growing uncertainty, I think stability is a very good thing," said Winters. The business leader was a member of a delegation led by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who paid a four-day official visit to China last week.

Commenting on Starmer's visit to China, Winters said he was "delighted that the prime minister is making this trip." The visit provides a valuable opportunity to expand China-UK cooperation and promote trade in goods and services as well as two-way investment, he said, adding that he expects more British companies to seize opportunities in China and strengthen business ties.

Winters expressed strong confidence in China's economic resilience and prospects, emphasizing the bank's commitment to seizing new opportunities and deepening its presence in the Chinese market.

In his view, China's economic resilience is many years in the making, underpinned by the country's ongoing reconfiguration of supply chains and manufacturing through technological innovation, as well as the diversification of Chinese manufacturing both at home and abroad.

He also touched on the country's policy stability. China has a policy response that is stable and predictable, which is very helpful in terms of generating resilience, he noted.

In December last year, Standard Chartered raised its forecast for China's economic growth in 2026 by 0.3 percentage points. Winters explained that the revision was based on the bank's analysis of China's robust economic performance in 2025 and the recommendations for formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan.

"We digested the recommendations, which had a particular focus on the domestic economy and the circular economy, as well as on stimulating consumption, investment beyond the property sector," Winters said. The combination of some stabilization in the property sector, strong export performance and technological advances strengthened the bank's confidence that 2026 could be a strong year for the Chinese economy, he noted.

In regards to boosting domestic consumption, Winters said that as the Chinese economy remains stable and predictable and its social safety net improves, consumer confidence will recover. He added that China has multiple policy levers to support confidence and make consumption an increasingly important driver of growth.

Having operated in China for nearly 170 years, Standard Chartered regards the country as one of its most important markets.

"As China has gone through its opening-up process, we have been there with China," said Winters, adding that Standard Chartered has developed strong ties with local banks and finance companies, high-tech companies, and industrial manufacturing companies.

On Jan. 27, Standard Chartered Bank (China) Limited, a Chinese subsidiary of the bank, announced it had upgraded its medium-sized enterprise business to "international enterprise banking," aiming to better serve fast-growing technology firms in areas such as artificial intelligence, green technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.

"Chinese technology is strong and the technology companies quickly go global," Winters said. "As they go abroad, they need help from an international bank."

Winters noted that the bank's China-related business has grown rapidly thanks to the Chinese companies going global, the rise of tech firms and the internationalization of the renminbi (RMB).

"The cross-border activity is quite distinct as a strength for us. It's a huge area of focus for us and thankfully it's been one of the drivers of our Chinese business," he said. ■