It is sometimes said that Bank of China’s Hong Kong skyscraper was designed to allow its bosses physically to look down on HSBC’s headquarters.
Officially, BoC’s IM Pei-designed masterpiece is meant to evoke the bamboo with its symbolic strength. Finished four years after HSBC’s Norman Foster edifice, there is, however, no doubt that BoC towers over its rival, at least in Hong Kong.
Yet beyond the mainland, BoC has always been dwarfed by the commercial reach of its biggest rivals in Asia, including HSBC. Recent moves suggest it wants to change that — and this could be an auspicious time for one of the Chinese banks to aim for the international heft they so far lack.
您已阅读16%（672字），剩余84%（3618字）包含更多重要信息，订阅以继续探索完整内容，并享受更多专属服务。