Jiang Jianqing, chairman of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). ICBC wants to buy the US branches of the troubled Bank of East Asia. Image: Steve Eder

CHICAGO—China's biggest bank signed an agreement that would make it the first Beijing-controlled financial institution to acquire retail bank branches in the U.S., though regulators could still block the deal.

Under the deal, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., by some measures the world's largest bank, agreed to acquire a majority stake in Bank of East Asia Ltd.'s U.S. subsidiary.
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