Fact Check

Does China's State-Owned Bank Have Offices in Trump Tower?

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, which is state-owned, is by some metrics the largest bank in the world.

Published March 20, 2023

 (NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images)
Image Via NICOLAS ASFOURI/AFP via Getty Images
Claim:
The New York branch of the largest Chinese state-owned bank, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, has office space in Trump Tower.

On March 19, 2023, anti-Trump political action group Medias Touch posted a short video of Trump bragging about the fact that China's largest bank — and by some metrics the world's largest bank — has office space in New York City's Trump Tower:

This is factual. The largest bank in China, and frequently ranked as the largest in the world, is the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). Its controlling shareholder is the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China. 

Until 2019, the ICBC was one of the largest tenants of Trump Tower, as described by Bloomberg: 

China's ICBC, a state-controlled enterprise and the world's largest lender by assets, is one of Trump Tower's largest office tenants, along with the Trump Organization, the president's family company. The lender occupies space on three floors in the Fifth Avenue building, where it has a bank branch and about 100 employees. 

In 2019, the Trump Organization renegotiated a lease with ICBC. The prior ICBC lease had netted the Trump Organization at least $23 million. A new lease in place significantly reduces the amount of real estate ICBC uses, but the bank still maintains one floor for ICBC executive offices at the time of this reporting. The listed address is the 20th floor of Trump Tower. 

Because ICBC is a state-controlled Chinese bank with offices in Trump Tower in Manhattan, we rate this claim as "True."

Sources

"Bank Rankings - Top 50 Banks." LexisNexis Risk Solutions, https://risk.lexisnexis.com/insights-resources/article/bank-rankings-top-banks-in-the-world. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

"When Chinese Bank's Trump Lease Ends, Potential Conflict Begins." Bloomberg.Com, 28 Nov. 2016. www.bloomberg.com, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-28/trump-s-chinese-bank-tenant-may-negotiate-lease-during-his-term.

中国工商银行股份有限公司网站-Investor Relations栏目-FAQs栏目-FAQs. http://www.icbc.com.cn/ICBCLtd/Investor Relations/IR Contacts and Services/FAQs/faqs.htm. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.

欢迎光临中国工商银行纽约网站. https://www.icbkus.com/icbc/%E6%B5%B7%E5%A4%96%E5%88%86%E8%A1%8C/%E7%BA%BD%E7%BA%A6%E7%BD%91%E7%AB%99/en/. Accessed 20 Mar. 2023.
 

Alex Kasprak is an investigative journalist and science writer reporting on scientific misinformation, online fraud, and financial crime.

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