Norway-based DNB ASA is shuttering its Shanghai branch because operations there have been slow for years and because it expects business to remain "very limited," Reuters reported, citing Vidar Andersen, head of the bank's international division.

The branch will be replaced by a representative office with three or four employees, down from the branch's headcount of 15, the newswire said. DNB previously had a representative office between 1982 and 2006, when it expanded to a branch.

Andersen said DNB's strategic objective in China is limited to Nordic clients and the company's product range is not competitive. The company expects to surrender its bank license for China in 2021, according to the report.