China opening banking sector steadily
( 2003-11-27 21:25) (Xinhua)
A senior Chinese official said that China has opened its banking sector to
foreign investors steadily and foreign banks have become an important part of
the Chinese banking system.
Tang Shuangning, vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory
Commission (CBRC), spoke at the Second China-Russia Financial Forum in Beijing Thursday.
He said China was continuing the opening-up process of the country's banking
sector step by step to fulfill the commitments made when China successfully
entered the World Trade Organization (WTO).
China's banking sector would be completely open to foreign investors by the
end of 2006 and by then restrictions on the foreign banks would be lifted, Tang
pledged.
So far, 12 branches and 25 representative offices of foreign banks have been
approved, 12 foreign banks were authorized to conduct on-line banking business
and five foreign banks become trustee banks of the Qualified Foreign
Institutional Investor (QFII) since China acquired WTO membership in December
2001,.
China would adopt preferential policies to encourage foreign banks to
purchase shares in Chinese banks, Tang said.
China now registers 191 foreign banking institutions, and 209 representative
offices of foreign banks have been established, while 73 foreign banks are
allowed to conduct RMB business and half of the foreign banks in China can
conduct full forex business.
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