ANZ has kicked off the new year by advancing its strategy to cut its retail presence in Asia through announcing the sale of its stake in Shanghai Rural Commercial Bank (SRCB).

The Australian bank holds a 20 per cent stake in SRCB, which it will sell to China COSCO Shipping Corporation and Shanghai Sino-Poland Enterprise Management Development Corporation for a total of 9.2 billion renminbi ($1.84 billion).

ANZ said the sale will not have a meaningful impact on its balance sheet, with the price broadly in line with the value of the asset in ANZ's annual accounts.

Although it did warn that, if the deal was not fully completed by the end of March, timing differences could negatively affect ANZ's first-half profit largely offset by a boost upon completion.

The Australian bank also said its investment in SRCB had been profitable, with around $568 million invested for a return of $1.3 billion of equity accounted earnings and $178 million in dividends.

ANZ said its SRBC stake had contributed $259 million towards its post tax profits in the 2016 financial year.

However, under its current chief executive Shayne Elliott, ANZ has edged away from previous CEO Mike Smith's "super-regional strategy", which aimed to transform it into an Asian bank, with around a third of earnings coming from outside Australia and New Zealand.

Instead, ANZ is seeking to focus on institutional (big business) banking in the region, while selling down its retail banking operations.

"As we have previously stated, the sale reflects our strategy to simplify our business and improve capital efficiency," noted the bank's deputy chief executive, Graham Hodges, in a statement.

"The sale will also allow us to focus our resources on our institutional banking business in Asia.

"This includes a significant commitment to China over the past 30 years with 100 per cent ANZ-owned branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chongqing, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Qingdao serving our institutional clients."

ANZ said the sale will boost its capital ratio by around 40 basis points, assisting its efforts to stay ahead of increasing regulatory demands to improve banks' loss absorption capabilities.

Investors appear pleased with the deal, pushing ANZ shares up 1.8 per cent to $30.96 by 3:19pm (AEDT) on a day when the broader market was up 1.2 per cent.