The largest lender of the country, State Bank of India has decided to venture deeper into the Chinese mainland. The bank plans to set up a representative office in Guangzhou (China).

There are many Indian banks which have already set foot there.

SBI already has a branch in Shanghai and a representative office in Tianjin. SBI is planning to convert the representative office in Tianjin to a branch.

"A foreign bank can approach the China Banking Regulatory Commission for upgrading a rep office to a branch upon completion of two years of operations," said an official of the bank.

According to a senior public sector bank official, any foreign bank can start reaping profits out of its operations in China only after having spent atleast five years there. It is a pretty long tenor and banks have to go through it.