Tbilisi: Georgia's BasisBank, owned by Chinese conglomerate Hualing Group, has acquired a 95.99% ownership stake in Liberty Bank, the South Caucasus country's third-largest lender, BasisBank said on Thursday.Liberty Bank is Georgia's third-largest bank by assets, with 5.5% market share as of June 2025."Through this transaction, we are strengthening competition in the market while delivering greater value to our customers," David Tsaava, general director of BasisBank, said in a statement."With increased capacity, we will expand access to financing and unlock new opportunities for businesses, playing a significant role in driving Georgia's economic growth."Hualing Group, based in China's Xinjiang region, has snapped up several banking assets in Georgia in recent years. It bought a controlling stake in BasisBank in 2012 and purchased Societe Generale's controlling stake in Bank Republic in 2016.Tbilisi has significantly boosted its economic relations with Beijing in the past decade, with China now serving as Georgia's fourth-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade reached $2.7 billion in 2025, a 19.5% jump from the previous year, according to Beijing's ambassador in Tbilisi.
