Kenneth Ge, who chairs Bank of China (Suisse) SA, told reporters in Geneva that BOC had only begun offering private banking services in China last year, but the group was now already looking at expanding abroad.

"We are considering starting offices in other areas. Switzerland is just a start. Switzerland is the first but it will not be the last," he said.

BOC Suisse would not reveal its business targets, but the bank's chief executive officer Jacques Mechelany said it was hoping to attract wealthy Chinese who may be seeking to park their assets offshore.

Chinese law allows residents to move up to 50,000 dollars out of the country annually, but the regulation could in future be revised.

"Our plan is to start from a non-existant situation to get to a recognised solution in private banking and institutional management," said Mechelany.

The current financial turmoil was both good and bad news for the new operations, Mechelany said.

On the one hand, clients that have lost money in the turmoil may be more reluctant to move their assets, but on the other hand, others are seeking to change banks for the same reason.

BOC had also been able to have a good pick of talent thanks to the turmoil, he said.

BOC in October posted 26.3 billion yuan (3.8 billion dollars) in potential losses on assets for the third quarter, partially related to US subprime mortgage-backed securities.

China's largest foreign exchange bank also reported a net profit of 17.8 billion yuan in the third quarter, up 11.5 percent from a year earlier.

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