GOLDMAN Sachs Chairman and CEO Lloyd Blankfein was infamously quoted last year as saying, "Bankers do God's work." In a literal sense, that's an apt description of Stephen Green, who is chairman of HSBC Holding Plc, Europe's biggest bank, and also serves part-time as an ordained minister with the Church of England.

Green, 61, has managed to steer HSBC through the murky waters of the financial meltdown without the aid of government handouts. The 145-year-old bank, despite deep losses on subprime mortgage lending at its HSBC Finance Corp subsidiary in the United States, has been riding the wave of sizzling growth in Asia, where it derives two-thirds of its profits.

In early March, the London-based bank reported 2009 earnings rose to US$5.83 billion from US$5.73 billion in 2008. It operates more than 8,500 offices across the globe.

Green began his career with Britain's Ministry of Overseas Development. After working at McKinsey & Co, he joined HSBC in 1982. He was named chairman in 2006. Green holds an undergraduate degree from Oxford and a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The acronym HSBC derives from its origins as Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corp. The bank has been an integral part of China's renaissance. HSBC bought and still holds an 8 percent stake in the Bank of Shanghai, as well as other investments in China's financial sector.

About three weeks after publishing the bank's full-year earnings, Green sat down with reporters from Shanghai Daily and nine other media outlets in a conference room in the Shangri-La Hotel to discuss HSBC's growth strategy, bank bonuses and his second book, "Good Value," which was published in Chinese last month.

The following interview features comments made by Green during that media roundtable. It has been edited for space.

Q: There has been rising anger in Western countries over bank bonuses, vilifying big payouts to "fat cats" even after banks have accepted big government bailouts. What's your view on the bonus culture?

A: There have been plenty of experiences of distortion in remuneration in the banking industry if you look back in the last few years. In the early part of the first decade of this century, there was a boom going on in financial markets worldwide, and there were many distortions partly because the bonus policy focused too much on short-term profits.

The corporate culture focused too much on quick wins, on short-term gains and on achieving rates of growth which were unsustainable and which all too often proved to be unreal.

Q: What's HSBC's remuneration policy?

A: If you want business founded on good value, you have to focus on sustainable, profitable growth, and your remuneration has to be in relation to it. It's all about the difference between short-term greediness and the long-term approach to invest in a sustainable business.

In HSBC, the focus is on real business, providing good service to customers and building sustainable growth over the long term. We want to make sure the pay works to encourage that rather than short-term quick wins or greediness.

Q: You once said, "We cannot fulfil ourselves in business through power or work or wealth." What's HSBC's policy on its staff?

A: I hope in HSBC we'll always focus on what I regard as real responsibility for sustainable growth in business, i.e. in the long term, treating people as ends not means and recognizing the responsibility to the community and to society.

Q: HSBC has a global presence and it benefits from rising global trade. However, trade disputes have been rising since the financial crisis. What's your view on trade and protectionism?

A: Trade is important to economic growth and it's important to every country's development. Protectionism is a very dangerous practice. It will be extremely unwise and unwelcome to see protection measures introduced in any country. We all have to fight hard for open trade because it is of collective benefit to all countries and to all people. That's an extremely important issue.

The world in the 1930s made a big mistake, a huge tragic mistake. After the financial crisis and economic downturn, serious protectionism was introduced, which caused a further downward spiral. We all know what a terrible outcome it had.

Q: There has been criticism that overseas banks are eying quick money in China. Some have already sold their holdings in Chinese banks to cash in on juicy returns and replenish capital for their global businesses. What's your comment on that?

A: I can't really comment on other banks. HSBC is continuing to develop its business in China. We now have 99 branches on the Chinese mainland, and we continue to expand our business here with the support of authorities. We have important partnerships with the Bank of Communications and with the Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. For us, there's no market more important than China. We plan for the long term. We are not going to be come-and-go. We're committed to China long-term.

Q: HSBC moved the office of its chief executive officer from London to Hong Kong in February. What's behind that shift?

A: We did that for two reasons. Firstly, the central gravity of the world economy is shifting from the West to the East. Asia is going to be the most dynamic growth region for the next generation and beyond. Secondly, our own business has central gravity in Asia. More than two-thirds of our profits come from Asia, and, over time, we expect that percentage to rise. So it makes very good sense to locate our chief executive at the center of where our main business is and where the main growth is.

Q: You're a top banker and a clergyman at the same time. How has that double role influenced your management style?

A: As an ordained minister, I do work in church. In another sense, I think it's important for all of us, whether or not you have any particular role in church or any other place, to make sure to integrate your understanding of the purpose of business life with the rest of your life. Too many people separate their business lives from their private lives, which is wrong. You need an integrated understanding of the purpose of your life, which affects the way you do your business, the way you live with your family and friends, what you do in your spare time.