An attempt by three Chinese banks to acquire a stake in Standard Chartered appears to have been rebuffed, but it highlights nevertheless the hunger in China for foreign acquisitions.

Temasek, the Singapore state investment agency, has rebuffed an approach from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Bank of China and China Construction Bank to buy its 17 per cent stake in Standard Chartered. The Singapore agency regards its holding as of financial and strategic importance.

ICBC, the biggest of China’s main four state-owned banks, denied any approach to Temasek. Wang Zhenning said: “ICBC hasn’t had any contact with Temasek concerning this issue.” The other two banks were unavailable for comment.

Standard Chartered has been considered a takeover target for years, but interest in the past has come from Western banks keen to increase their exposure to Asia and other fast-growing markets where the bank operates. That makes the bank attractive to Chinese banks as investment begins to flow outwards into Africa, the Middle East and other parts of Asia.

China’s banks, now the biggest in the world in terms of market value, are believed to be increasingly interested in overseas acquisitions.

For several years, China’s government has been urging large, state-owned companies to expand overseas and many are flush with cash after large share offerings on the booming Shanghai stock market.

Chinese companies buying foreign firms have had a record volume of $19 billion (£9.3 billion) so far this year, Thomson Financial research shows. Blackstone, in which the Chinese Government took a $3 billion investment this year, has said that it is ready to help more Chinese firms to expand abroad.

However, Chinese firms face a string of obstacles in competing for overseas acquisitions. Frank Slevin, HSBC’s head of global banking, has said that the thicket of government approvals required to acquire a foreign firm were an important brake. He said: “Chinese companies still need approval from multiple departments for any sizeable acquisition. Sellers have to discount offers from Chinese companies due to the uncertainty over government approval.” Other obstacles include restrictions on trade in the yuan and growing political resistance in America and Europe.

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