The Shanghai World Financial Center.

:: Union National Bank (UNB), 50 percent owned by the Abu Dhabi government, has begun operations at its branch in Shanghai, becoming the first bank from the UAE to operate a branch in mainland China, the bank said on Tuesday.

The Shanghai presence will provide corporate banking services to UAE companies and trade finance to Sino-Middle East counterparties.

UNB said it was also seeking to cash in on opportunities arising out of China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative, which aims to build a new Silk Road linking Asia, Africa and Europe by investing billions of dollars in infrastructure including railways, ports and power grids.

UNB opened a representative office in China in 2008, the first bank from the UAE to do so.