Industrial and Commercial Bank of China agreed to acquire a majority stake in the Bank of East Asia's U.S. unit, making it the first Chinese lender to buy into a U.S. retail bank, the Wall Street Journal reported on its website Friday.
The two banks were mentioned in a preliminary list of companies that were expected to participate in a contract signing ceremony at the U.S.-China Trade and Economic Cooperation Forum.
The U.S. head of Bank of East Asia was not immediately available to comment.
The deal, which comes on the last day of Chinese President Hu Jintao's visit, is likely to be carefully reviewed by U.S. regulators, the Journal reported, citing an unnamed source.