South Korea's central bank, the Bank of Korea (BOK), has opened an office in Shanghai to boost its monitoring of the Chinese market. It was also granted a regulated investment quota of 300 million U.S. dollars by the Chinese State Administration of Foreign Exchange.

Although the BOK also has branches in Hong Kong and Beijing, it is the only central bank in the world to have offices in both Beijing and Shanghai.

Its new Shanghai office reflects the bank's intent to make preemptive moves against the fast changing global economy and preparations to head into the Chinese market.

Over the long term, the BOK seeks to diversify its foreign currency management and prepare for the era in which the yuan will act as a global currency.