INTERVIEW-China CCB's London arm seen as global springboard

* China Constrution Bank to open London unit Monday

* Meets growing demands from Chinese clients going global

By Daisy Ku

LONDON, May 29 (Reuters) - China Construction Bank (CCB) (0939.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), the world's second biggest bank, will ramp up its international presence and aims to tap into the rising overseas ambitions of Chinese firms when it opens a London unit next week.

Since its 2005 initial public stock offering, CCB's market capitalisation has more than doubled to $152 billion to leapfrog global rivals such as JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and give it a similar value to HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile, Research)(0005.HK: Quote, Profile, Research).

But CCB's international business is nowhere near its global peers. Over 95 percent of its assets are based in China and Hong Kong and 99 percent of its profits are generated in its domestic markets.

"We are no HSBC or Citi (C.N: Quote, Profile, Research). But we are following our clients as they go global," Shaolin Xiao, head of China Construction Bank (London), told Reuters in an interview.

Over the past decade, overseas investments by Chinese enterprises have ballooned from less than $1 billion to $47.8 billion at the end of 2008. Over 5,000 firms have set up 12,000 overseas units across 172 countries.