Attention Business Editors:

Royal Bank of Canada announces joint venture agreement to launch Chinese fund management company

    TORONTO, Oct. 30 /CNW/ - Royal Bank of Canada announced today that it has
entered into a joint venture agreement with China Minsheng Banking Corp., Ltd.
(China Minsheng Bank) to launch a new Chinese joint venture fund management
company, pending regulatory and other approvals. The joint venture company,
with headquarters in Shanghai, will create, manage and sell mutual funds in
local currency to retail and institutional investors in China.
    Under the terms of the agreement, Royal Bank of Canada will hold a 30 per
cent interest in the joint venture, China Minsheng Bank will hold a majority
interest of 60 per cent, and Three Gorges Finance Co., Ltd. will hold a ten
per cent interest.
    "This exciting initiative provides us with an entry point into the
rapidly expanding Chinese asset management market," said George Lewis,
executive vice-president, Wealth Management, RBC Financial Group and chairman
and CEO of RBC Asset Management Inc. "To be selected to participate in this
joint venture is a tremendous honour and a reflection of RBC's leadership in
asset management and the distribution of investment products through bank
branch networks."
    RBC's China strategy is to make targeted investments in areas where RBC
has global competitive advantages including global debt markets, global
financial institutions, private banking and fund management.
    "The fund management market in China is poised for growth, making this an
opportune time to form this joint venture," said Hong Qi, executive
vice-president, China Minsheng Bank. "It also serves to reinforce the growing
realization that Chinese capital markets offer good potential investment
value."
    "Each party brings their inherent expertise, knowledge and resources to
create a unique and exciting proposition," said Mike Chen, China country head
for RBC Financial Group. "The joint venture will benefit from the expertise in
fund management, strategic direction and management capabilities that RBC can
provide and the respected, well established presence of China Minsheng Bank."
    China Minsheng Bank is a Chinese commercial bank headquartered in Beijing
and listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. It has 240 branches and banking
outlets in the major cities of China. It ranks among the top ten banks in
China with widely held ownership.
    In February of 2006, RBC upgraded its representative office in Beijing to
a branch, which will enable RBC to provide a variety of services to clients in
Canada and China. In August, the company announced the opening of RBC Life
Insurance Company's new representative office in Beijing. Today, RBC Capital
Markets announced its mandate as co-lead manager of the institutional tranche
for the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's estimated $21 billion
initial public offering, the largest in financial market history.

    About RBC Asset Management Inc.
    RBC Asset Management Inc. is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of
Royal Bank of Canada. RBC Asset Management Inc. provides a broad range of
investment services to investors through mutual funds, pooled funds and
separately managed portfolios. With over $67 billion in assets under
management and offices in major financial centres around the world, RBC Asset
Management Inc. is one of Canada's largest money managers. Visit our website
at www.rbcam.com.

    About China Minsheng Bank
    China Minsheng Bank was established in 1996. It is the first major
national commercial bank in China without state ownership. As at December 31,
2005, China Minsheng Bank had total assets of RMB 557.1 billion (CAD 78
billion) and an industry-leading non-performing loan ratio of 1.28 per cent
China Minsheng Bank has 240 banking outlets and branches in cities across
China, and has established agent bank relationships with nearly 750 banks in
78 countries and regions. In 2005, as published by UK's The Banker magazine,
China Minsheng Bank was ranked the second most competitive commercial bank in
China and 28th in the top 200 Asian banks by total assets.

    About Three Gorges Finance Co., Ltd.
    Three Gorges Finance Co., Ltd is a non-bank financial institution
authorized by the People's Bank of China and established in 1997, serving the
Three Gorges Project and member companies of the China Three Gorges Project
Corporation. As at the end of 2005, Three Gorges Finance had total assets of
RMB 8 billion (CAD 1.1 billion).

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              Safe Harbour Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
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    Certain statements contained in this press release may be deemed to be
forward-looking statements under certain securities laws, including the "safe
harbour" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995 and in any applicable Canadian securities legislation, and Royal
Bank of Canada (RBC) intends that such forward-looking statements be subject
to the safe-harbour created thereby. The words "may," "could," "should,"
"would," "suspect," "outlook," "believe," "plan," "strategy", "anticipate,"
"estimate," "expect," "intend," "forecast", "objective" and words and
expressions of similar import are intended to identify forward-looking
statements.
    By their very nature, forward-looking statements involve numerous factors
and assumptions, and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties, both
general and specific, and risks exist that predictions, forecasts, projections
and other forward-looking statements, including statements about the proposed
joint venture will not be achieved. We caution readers not to place undue
reliance on these statements as a number of important factors could cause our
actual results to differ materially from the beliefs, plans, objectives,
expectations, anticipations, estimates and intentions expressed in such
forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to the
possibility that the proposed joint venture does not close when expected or at
all because required regulatory or other approvals are not received or other
conditions to the closing are not satisfied on a timely basis or at all, the
terms and conditions of the joint venture may need to be modified to achieve
regulatory approval, or that the anticipated benefits of the joint venture are
not realized as a result of such things as the strength of the economy and
competitive factors in the areas where the joint venture will do business; the
impact of changes in the laws and regulations regulating financial services
and enforcement thereof; judicial judgments and legal proceedings;
reputational risks, and other factors that may affect future results of RBC
including changes in trade policies, timely development and introduction of
new products and services, changes in tax laws, and technological changes. We
caution that the foregoing list of important factors is not exhaustive.

For further information: Media contact: Beja Rodeck, Media Relations,
(416) 974-5506