National Australia Bank said yesterday that it has "officially" opened its first branch in China. The bank received regulatory clearance to open the branch in June.NAB is the last of Australia's four major banks to open a branch in China and seems unlikely to step up its pace of investment.In July, National Australia Bank's CEO, Cameron Clyne, voiced scepticism over the merits of banks investing in the Asian region, arguing that the bank could enjoy the fruits of the Chinese boom under its present strategy.Clyne said at the time that a strong case could only be made for expanding offshore if there were select markets that were not well served by other banks in which NAB had core capabilities.On the other hand, NAB's annual report, released two weeks ago, adopted a more positive tone, stating that "our expansion into the rapidly growing Chinese and Indian economies has been a highlight of the year."NAB said that core lending to Asia increased 59 per cent over the year to September 2011, while deposits increased by six per cent.