STEVE INSKEEP, host: NPR's business news starts with China banking on the United States.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: All that money we've been sending to China to buy stuff, they're happy to lend it back to us. The Federal Reserve said it's allowing China's biggest lender to open up shop in the United States. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China - or ICBC - will open its first branch in New York. The Chinese government owns 75 percent of that bank. Goldman Sachs owns a small stake.</s>STEVE INSKEEP, host: The move is a switch from past years, when U.S. negotiators used to push China to open up its market to U.S. banks. That was back in the old days, when American banks had money. Now Chinese officials are urging the U.S. to speed up applications by Chinese banks to establish branches here. ICBC is actually the second bank in the last two months to be allowed to offer banking services in the U.S.
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday said it is allowing China's biggest lender to open up shop in the U.S. — yet another sign of the intertwining of the two nation's economies. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, or ICBC, will open its first branch in New York. China's government owns 75 percent of the bank. U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs owns a small stake.