Deutsche Bank is to sell its stake in the Chinese lender Hua Xia for up to 3.7bn as Germany’s biggest bank steps up efforts to strengthen its balance sheet under John Cryan.

德意志银行(Deutsche Bank)将出售其在中资的华夏银行(Hua Xia)所持股份，回笼至多37亿欧元。在约翰克赖恩(John Cryan)领导下，这家德国最大银行正加紧努力，加强其资产负债表。

Regulators around the world have been pushing global banks like Deutsche to hold more capital to avoid a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis. The German bank historically operated with higher debt levels than most rivals.

全球监管机构一直在迫使德意志银行之类的全球银行持有更多资本，以避免重演2008年的金融危机。这家德国银行传统上债务水平高于多数竞争对手。

Mr Cryan, who succeeded Anshu Jain as co-chief executive of Deutsche in July, has made bolstering the bank’s capital position a vital part of his five-year turnround plan. He has already said that Deutsche, which is on course to make a big loss this year, will pay no dividends for 2015 or 2016.

克赖恩于今年7月接替安舒贾恩(Anshu Jain)出任德意志银行联席首席执行官。他把提升该行资本状况列为自己五年扭亏为盈计划的关键部分。他已表示，今年将面临高额亏损的德意志银行，可能在2015年或2016年不会派发股息。

Deutsche said that the sale of Hua Xia to China’s PICC Property and Casualty Company, for between Rmb23bn and Rmb25.7bn (3.2bn-3.6bn), would bolster its core tier one capital ratio — a key measure of financial strength — by 30 to 40 basis points.

德意志银行表示，将所持华夏银行股份以230亿至257亿元人民币（合32亿至36亿欧元）出售给中国财险公司(PICC Property and Casualty Company)，会把该行核心一级资本率（这是有关财务实力的关键指标）提升30到40个基点。

At the end of September, Deutsche’s ratio stood at 11.5 per cent, which is comfortably above regulators’ minimum requirements. However, with tighter capital rules starting to bite, and a number of legal concerns hanging over the bank, some analysts fear the ratio could come under pressure.

9月底，德意志银行核心一级资本率为11.5%，大大高于监管机构的最低要求。不过，由于更严格的资本规定将开始生效，以及该行面临的多个法律方面的顾虑，一些分析师担心这一比率可能面临压力。

Mr Cryan said that “China remains a key growth market” for Deutsche but insisted that “now is the right time for us to sell this investment”.

克赖恩表示，对德意志银行来说，“中国依然是一个重要的增长市场”，不过他坚称“现在是我们出售这项投资的正确时机”。

Deutsche first bought into Hua Xia in 2006, at a time when many western lenders were keen to get access to the growth potential of the Chinese market. In the following years, it built up a 19.99 per cent stake, as well as taking two seats on the Chinese lender’s board, and setting up a credit card joint venture with the Chinese bank.

德意志银行最初于2006年买入华夏银行股份。当时，许多西方银行都急于利用中国市场的增长潜力。在随后几年内，该行增持至19.99%的股份，还在这家中资银行的董事会拥有了两个席位，并与这家中资银行成立了一家信用卡合资企业。

However, as Chinese regulators prevented foreign investors from owning more than 20 per cent in Chinese banks, the stake in Hua Xia came to be seen non-strategic by Deutsche’s leadership.

不过，由于中国监管机构不允许外国投资者在中资银行持股超过20%，该行所持的华夏银行股份被其领导层视为不具有战略意义。

Jürgen Fitschen, Mr Cryan’s outgoing co-chief executive, hinted in September that a sale could be on the cards, saying that Deutsche would have to work out how to allocate its capital as efficiently as possible in the face of China’s restrictions on foreign ownership. Deutsche subsequently wrote down the stake by 649m, in part to account for the possibility of a sale.

克赖恩即将离任的联席首席执行官尤尔根菲茨岑(Jürgen Fitschen)今年9月曾暗示，该行可能出售这笔股份。当时他表示，面对中国对外资持股比例的限制，德意志银行将不得不想办法尽可能高效率地配置其资本。在那之后，德意志银行曾对这些股份减记6.49亿欧元，这部分是为了计入出售股份的可能性。

Deutsche’s decision to offload its stake in Hua Xia follows a number of other western disposals in China. In January, the Spanish bank BBVA sold a ㄠ.5bn stake in China Citic Bank Corp.

在德意志银行决定脱手其华夏银行股份之前，多家其他西方银行也已在中国出售各自的投资。今年1月，西班牙对外银行(BBVA)曾出售其持有的15亿欧元的中信银行(China Citic Bank Corp)股份。

A series of US lenders have also departed, including Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs, which sold out of China Construction Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, respectively in 2013.

还有多家美国银行也已撤离，其中包括美国银行(Bank of America)和高盛银行(Goldman Sachs)。两者在2013年分别全部出售其持有的中国建设银行(China Construction Bank)和中国工商银行(ICBC)股份。