HONG KONG, July 17 (Xinhua) -- China Merchants Bank (CMB) was honored the best bank in China by renowned financial magazine Euromoney here Tuesday.

    At a ceremony here, Euromoney Chief Editor Clive Horwood also announced a list of other financial institutions that had been given Awards For Excellence 2007 in the Asia-Pacific Region.

    ICICI won the award of best bank in Asia and India, Citi the best regional banking group in the Asia-Pacific region and HSBC the best bank in Hong Kong.

    According to Euromoney, CMB, the first privately-held bank in China, sets the operational standards to which other Chinese lenders aspire.

    From its early days as a regional bank serving the Pearl River delta region of southern China, CMB has transformed itself into a national bank and now boasts a network of more than 400 branches and offices in 30 major cities in China as well as a presence in Hong Kong.

    The bank has correspondent banking relationships with more than1,000 international banks in more than 80 countries and regions.

    In the 2006 fiscal year, CMB reported operating income of 24.87billion yuan (about 3.26 billion U.S. dollars), an increase of more than 29 percent over the previous year. Profit before tax jumped 56 percent over the same period, translating to a return onaverage equity of 16.74 percent.

    Since 1992, Euromoney has honored the best and brightest of the global wholesale financial industry. Regarded as the benchmark awards, they are one of the most coveted prizes of the world's investment banking, asset management and alternative investment professionals.