Deutsche Bank has no plans to reduce its presence in China but the fate of Deutsche’s stake in brokerage Hua Xia remained open, co-CEO Juergen Fitschen said yesterday.

Fitschen said foreign banks were all in the process of selling minority stakes in Chinese financial firms. Deutsche is considering selling its 20 per cent stake in the Chinese bank to raise cash and reduce its balance sheet exposure.

“Of course, we’re not pulling back from China. That’s going to be the biggest economy in the world,” Fitschen said at a conference. “It’s obvious that all of these minority stakes held by foreign investors must be given up.”