Deutsche Bank has announced that it will apply to incorporate its Chinese subsidiary in order to offer local-currency products to domestic retail customers, the Financial Times reported. The German lender hopes to capitalize on the large-scale liberalization of China's banking industry, which came into effect in December in accordance with the country's WTO accession obligations. Last week, approval was granted to local incorporation applications made by HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citigroup and Bank of East Asia. More than 70 foreign banks have set up 238 branches in China but only accounted for 0.55% of local currency loans by the end of 2005. Deutsche Bank has three branches – in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou – and recently opened a sub-branch in Beijing to service high net-worth individuals and small- and medium-sized enterprises.