While Li Guobao has grown and matured, Bank of East Asia has also grown. In 1969, the Bank of East Asia celebrated its 50th anniversary, and Li Guobao, who was thirty years old, officially joined the Bank of East Asia in the same year.
At that time, Li Guobao had already gained considerable business and accounting experience, so he quickly became familiar with the business and became a person whom the board of directors could trust. When the bank's chief accountant died, Li Guobao took his place. And it does a pretty good job.
After serving as chief accountant for a period of time, Li Guobao was appointed assistant to the general manager. Li Fuhe, the general manager of the Bank of East Asia and Li Guobao's uncle, announced that he would retire at the end of 1976 and proposed that Jian Yuelong, a representative of another founding family of the Bank of East Asia, be the general manager and Li Guobao be the deputy general manager. In 1981, the old Jian Yuelong announced his retirement, and the board of directors chose Li Guobao as the bank's general manager (now called chief executive).
The 42-year-old Li Guobao became the pillar of the Bank of East Asia and began to lead the Bank of East Asia into a new era as a banker.
When Li Guobao took office as the general manager of Bank of East Asia, he faced a more competitive environment. Speaking of this, it is necessary to briefly review the overall development process of Hong Kong's banking industry after the establishment of Bank of East Asia, as well as the main operating development characteristics and trajectory of Bank of East Asia during this period.
Before the end of the Second World War, Hong Kong’s banking industry was mainly focused on trade financing, and the business of many banks focused on bill advance, overseas remittance and exchange business. However, after the war, overseas Chinese had doubts about the domestic economic situation, and various countries began to restrict remittances to mainland China, so the overseas remittance business began to decline sharply. The remittance business is also in the same difficult situation as overseas remittances. This has dealt a serious blow to Hong Kong's banking industry, especially Chinese-owned banks. Fortunately, when old advantages are lost, new opportunities arise. After the war, Hong Kong's economy began to recover and its economic structure began to transform. In particular, the rapid development of manufacturing and real estate industries has provided huge business opportunities for the banking industry.
Amidst the tremendous changes in the economic environment, Hong Kong's banking industry is also undergoing earth-shaking changes. On the one hand, with the fierce competition, a large number of small banks have closed down. At the same time, some banks with considerable strength have emerged rapidly, and the competition among banks has become increasingly fierce. On the other hand, after entering the 1960s, Hong Kong's banking industry encountered an extremely harsh environment. In 1965, many Chinese-owned banks experienced runs, and Hang Seng Bank was merged by HSBC. Bank of East Asia, due to its stable style and sufficient funds, was in trouble after the crisis. Deposits increased and a distinct image was established in Hong Kong and overseas.
The Bank of East Asia keeps up with the changes of the times and makes good use of advanced technologies and concepts to innovate operations, allowing the bank to maintain its leading position in the industry. For example, in 1969, the latest online computer system was installed across the board, making it the first Chinese financial institution in Hong Kong to adopt cutting-edge technology in its operations. In 1975, together with Bank of America, the first Hong Kong dollar credit card - East America Credit Card was launched. And it always conducts business with a sound and prudent operating policy, effectively maintaining the bank's safety and steady development. When Li Guobao took office, he had to deal with competition from local Chinese banks and more and more challenges from foreign banks. From a social perspective, Hong Kong was on the sensitive eve of Sino-British negotiations, and various challenges were gathering. Together, it can be said to be full of dangers.
Li Guobao, who shoulders heavy responsibilities, firmly believes that only by leading Bank of East Asia to become an outstanding bank can it compete with other banks. Therefore, he requires himself and his subordinates to work together at a higher level, which is more outstanding than other banks. And began drastic changes in business operations.
The most important aspect of change is to unite more positive forces to bring Bank of East Asia to a new level of strength and scale. From the establishment of Bank of East Asia to Li Guobao's appointment as general manager, although the bank's shares have been traded on the Hong Kong stock market since the 1930s, the entire bank has been controlled and operated as a monopoly by several major families involved in the founding. This arrangement is conducive to the formation of a stabilizing force and ensures that banks maintain strong risk resistance in the early stages of their establishment and in turbulent environments, but it also largely restricts banks from participating in competition at a higher level. Competition requires strength. Strength can rely on one's own accumulation or borrow strength from the outside. To do great things, both are indispensable. To this end, Li Guobao actively promoted political awareness and cooperation, constantly attracted outside talents to join the Bank of East Asia, which greatly effectively enhanced the overall strength of the Bank of East Asia and firmly defended the Bank of East Asia's status as the largest independent Chinese bank in Hong Kong.
Li Guobao also strengthened external cooperation in business and expanded the bank’s development space. For example, in the second year after taking office as general manager (now called CEO), he promoted the Bank of East Asia to jointly establish "Jetco" with many banking institutions, and established ATM networks in Hong Kong, Macau, Shenzhen and Zhuhai. In 1984, Bank of East Asia co-founded Xuntong Electronic Services (Hong Kong) Co., Ltd. with a number of banks to provide electronic transfer services at branch retail locations; in 1987, Bank of East Asia became VISA International. and a major member of MasterCard International, and developed its independent credit card business; in 1989, Bank of East Asia became one of the six founding members of Hong Kong’s Central Clearing Company Limited; since 1995, it has directly acquired It continued to expand the scale of its banking business, such as the acquisition of United Bank of China in 1995, First Pacific Bank in 2000, and Daxing Bank of the United States in 2001, and successfully integrated its businesses. Li Guobao focuses on maintaining the good operation of banks and requires banks to have excellent corporate governance. To this end, he opened up the bank's senior management positions and hired talented people from outside several major families to take important positions. He also paid great attention to absorbing, cultivating and making good use of talents. Through an efficient team, he allowed the bank to maintain its scale while expanding. Steady and efficient operations.
“Every morning, senior staff and department heads will hold a meeting at 8 o’clock. The management must have a clear understanding of the bank’s various businesses, be highly transparent, and treat employees with clear rewards and punishments.” Li Guobao’s successful approach to making banks operate stably and efficiently.
At the same time, Li Guobao attaches great importance to establishing the outstanding image of the Bank of East Asia and actively enhances the connection and affection between the Bank of East Asia and the people of Hong Kong to consolidate and deepen the reputation and reputation of the Bank of East Asia in the market. In television commercials, BEA markets itself as "the bank for Hong Kong people" to differentiate itself from other major banks. This kind of positioning is deeply popular and makes people feel very kind and warm. Moreover, they have always insisted on proving themselves with actions and are not just people with empty slogans.
Bank of East Asia has been known for its high-quality services since its establishment. After Li Guobao led the bank, he took this traditional advantage to a new level. This also has a lot to do with Li Guobao's own personality. Many people who have dealt with Li Guobao say that he is humble and gentle and can always put himself in others' shoes. Visiting and thanking customers is something he often does. For example, during the worst period of SARS in Hong Kong, he insisted on visiting customers every day and set aside some time to write letters of thanks in English and Chinese to those he met. Change habits. People often say that there are just as many subordinates as there are bosses. The boss is so considerate of others, so the employees of Bank of East Asia will naturally be more sincere to their customers.
To serve customers, you must have the corresponding conditions and abilities, and you must be innovative and keep pace with the times to meet their needs. This is also something Li Guobao pays attention to and is good at. The computer networking launched by the Bank of East Asia in 1969 to improve service efficiency and the subsequent issuance of the first Hong Kong dollar credit card were among the achievements of his personal participation. After he led the Bank of East Asia, the Bank of East Asia also made outstanding progress in financial innovation and service capacity building.
Today, Bank of East Asia's products and services cover deposits, foreign currency savings, retail investment and wealth management services, mortgage loans, personal loans, credit card products, electronic online banking services, bancassurance products, mandatory Provident fund services, trade finance, syndicated loans, remittances and foreign exchange development transactions, etc. It has established personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management, investment banking, China business and international business departments to flexibly meet the needs of different customers. It is also famous for providing comprehensive retail and commercial banking services, and has established a "Xianzhuo Financial Center" to provide distinguished financial services.
Bank of East Asia not only satisfies customers by improving the service quality and efficiency of its staff, but also focuses on getting closer to the needs of modern people through the application of new technologies. In 1999, Bank of East Asia launched electronic online banking services, allowing customers to handle bank finances through five electronic media: the Internet, mobile phones, "face-to-face calls", telephones and kiosks. It also launched electronic banking services through East Asia Securities. Online stock trading services, becoming the first bank in Hong Kong to launch online securities trading services.
As a far-sighted leader, Li Guobao looks to the world.
Soon after taking office, he placed the external expansion of banking business in a relatively important position and successively opened business bases outside Hong Kong. At the same time, Li Guobao also led Bank of East Asia to enter other business areas and established a number of wholly-owned subsidiaries to provide diversified services, including: Bank of East Asia (Trust), East Asia Securities, East Asia Asset Management, East Asia Futures, and Blue Cross (Asia Pacific) Insurance and Lingda Finance, etc., and by acquiring related businesses from three major international accounting firms, Tricor Professional Business Co., Ltd. was established in 2002, making the bank a leader in comprehensive professional services companies for business, enterprises and investors in Greater China.
Due to his outstanding performance, Li Guobao served as Vice Chairman of the Bank of East Asia in 1995, and was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1997.
Under his leadership, Bank of East Asia not only developed into the largest independent Chinese bank in Hong Kong, but also expanded its business lines to the huge mainland market, Southeast Asia, the United Kingdom and the United States and other countries and regions. Today, the Bank of East Asia Group has more than 200 branches and representative offices around the world, including more than 120 branches and Supreme Financial Centers in Hong Kong, 50 business offices in Greater China, and throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, international network in the British Virgin Islands and Southeast Asian countries and employs more than 8,900 staff. As of June 30, 2007, the group's total consolidated assets reached HK$343.2 billion, and in the first half of the year it achieved total revenue of HK$4.478 billion and an after-tax profit of HK$1.911 billion.