Business scope limits on foreign-funded banks to be removed

The RMB business will be fully open to foreign-funded banks in China at the end of the year, said Wu Xiaoling, Deputy Governor of the People's Bank of China, at the China-US Business Forum on Feb. 14.

There is still a 25 percent ceiling of foreign stakes in a Chinese bank. For a single foreign investor, the maximum allowed is 20 percent. By the end of this year when foreign banks are free to launch RMB business, the stakes limits will be meaningful only in the sense of tax collection. The limits will no longer have restricting effect on their business scopes.

Wu recalled that China had honored its WTO commitment to opening-up of its financial sector as scheduled or even ahead of schedule. In December, 2005, China opened the RMB business to foreign financial institutions in Harbin, Changchun, Lanzhou, Yinchuan and Nanning, expanding the number of cities liberalizing the business to 25.

With respect to securities and insurance, China has implemented its WTO commitments on market access and business scopes, except the underwriting of A shares by joint ventures.

By People's Daily Online