Citigroup has struck a $3bn deal to sell an interest in a Chinese lender it took after a takeover battle a decade ago, joining a retreat by western banks from investments China’s financial institutions.

花旗集团(Citigroup)已达成一份30亿美元的协议，出售其在中国一家银行所持股份，这些股份是花旗10年前在一场并购战后获得的。此举令该行加入了撤出对中国金融机构投资的西方银行行列。

The New York-based bank’s agreement to sell its 20 per cent holding in Guangfa to China Life Insurance for Rmb19.7bn is the latest sign that tougher regulations imposed since the financial crisis are encouraging lenders to shed their holdings in other banks. Several of Citi’s rivals have struck similar deals to part with Chinese assets.

总部位于纽约的花旗同意以197亿元人民币将其持有的广发银行(Guangfa) 20%的股份转让给中国人寿(China Life Insurance)。该协议是一个最新迹象，表明金融危机后更严格的监管正促使各银行脱手其他银行股份。花旗的几个竞争对手也已达成类似协议，出售中国资产。

Citi said the sale of the stake would allow it to focus on expanding through its own network in the country, where it employs more than 8,000 people in 13 cities.

花旗表示，转让这一股份能令该行聚焦于通过其自身在华网络拓展业务。在中国，该行在13个城市雇用逾8000员工。

“It just was a matter of getting the right price and finding the right buyer,” said Jeffery Harte, analyst at Sandler O’Neill & Partners. “The trouble with stakes in financials is they’re penalised under regulatory capital rules.”

Sandler O'Neill & Partners分析师杰弗里哈特(Jeffery Harte)表示：“这事只关乎找到合适的买家并卖个好价钱。持有金融机构股份的问题在于，按照有关资本的监管规则，这些股份对金融机构十分不利。”

Citi took the stake for $620m in 2006 during a wave of foreign investment in China’s lenders. It led a consortium that fought a long campaign to take control of Guangfa, the former Guangdong Development bank focused on the industrial heartland of southern China.

花旗是2006年在外资对中国各银行的一轮投资潮中，以6.2亿美元买入广发银行股份的。以该集团为首的一个财团为了控制广发银行付出了漫长努力。广发银行的前身是广东发展银行(Guangdong Development Bank)，主要业务集中于华南地区的工业腹地。

Challenges with Guangfa became evident in 2009 when it was hit by a corruption scandal. Two senior executives at the Chinese bank were detained. The incident highlighted how foreign banks with stakes in Chinese financial institutions have struggled to influence management.

2009年，广发银行面临的挑战被暴露出来，当时该行遭到了一宗腐败丑闻的打击。这家中资银行的两名高管被羁押。这一事件凸显出，持有中国金融机构股份的外国银行很难影响其管理层。

Chinese authorities have restricted the expansion of foreign banks. In recent years, the total assets of foreign banks in China has fallen to below 2 per cent of the country’s total bank assets.

中国当局严格限制外资银行的扩张。最近几年，外资银行在华总资产已下滑至中国总银行资产的2%以下。

Francisco Aristeguieta, head of Citi’s Asia-Pacific arm, said China remained “one of our highest-priority markets around the world”, adding: “This transaction is consistent with the simplification of Citi and allows us to focus our resources in China on growing our core franchise further.”

花旗亚太区主管高晋诚(Francisco Aristeguieta)表示，中国依然是“我们在全球最重视的市场之一”，并称：“该交易符合花旗的精简战略，令我们能够将在华资源集中于进一步发展本行的核心业务。”

The deal follows an aborted push to float Guangfa on the stock market. A high bad debt ratio spoilt its prospects.

这笔交易是在广发中止推进上市之路后进行的。高坏账率影响了广发的前景。

A person close to the transaction said that the investment had generated about $2bn in profits over the past decade but because it was carried at book value would not be material to earnings. The deal is expected to close in the second half of this year.

一名熟悉交易内情的人士表示，花旗对广发的投资在过去10年产生了约20亿美元的利润，但由于按照账面价值结转，它不会对盈利产生实质性影响。这笔交易预计将在今年下半年完成。

UBS was the first to dump an investment in a Chinese bank, selling its 3.4bn shares in Bank of China for $835m in 2009. In 2013, Goldman Sachs sold about $1bn worth of shares in Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Later that year, Bank of America Corp sold its remaining shares in China Construction Bank for $1.47bn.

瑞银(UBS)是第一家从中国的银行撤资的外资银行，其在2009年以8.35亿美元出售了持有的中国银行(BoC)的34亿股。2013年，高盛(Goldman Sachs)出售了工商银行(ICBC)价值10亿美元的股票。同年晚些时候，美国银行(BoA)以14.7亿美元出售了其持有的中国建设银行(CCB)的剩余股份。

HSBC still holds on to the 20 per cent of Bank of Communications that it bought for $1.7bn in 2004, in what was the first foreign investment in a Chinese bank.

汇丰银行(HSBC)依然持有其在2004年以17亿美元购得的交通银行(Bank of Communications)的20%的股份，那是外资对中资银行的首笔投资。