"We will become the top shareholder in the bank," ICBC, China's largest lender, said in a statement. "The two sides will develop their strategic cooperation in a broad area."

The announcement comes at a time of growing focus on China's role in Africa, and on its financial muscle underpinned by the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of more than 1.4 trillion dollars.

"This means that China's largest commercial bank and Africa's largest commercial bank are joining hands," ICBC Chairman Jiang Jianqing said in the statement.

"We hope that with this we can build a bridge linking China and South Africa, linking Asia and Africa."

According to ICBC, Standard Bank has 1,051 branches and is present in 18 African countries and the major financial centres of Europe, North America and Asia.

"This cooperation is in accordance with the common economic interests of both sides, and will also help the economic and trade relationship between China and Africa develop further," Jiang said.

"With this strategic cooperation with Standard Bank, ICBC will continue to optimise its global asset allocation."