China has publicized plans to build Tianjin into a financial center in
the north by introducing a range of reforms in the city's Binhai New Area.
Tianjin Mayor Dai Xianglong said recently that experiments will be made in
reforming the scope of the banking business, ways of fund-raising and control of
foreign exchange.
Measures will be part of the economic and administrative reform efforts to
cultivate the Binhai New Area into a new engine of growth.
Earlier last month, the Binhai New Area, with an area of 2,270 square
kilometers, was announced by the State Council as an experimental zone for
comprehensive reforms.
It will be built into the third economic powerhouse in the country after
Shenzhen and the Pudong New Area in Shanghai.
Mayor Dai said as a way to reform the scope of banking businesses, a
financial share-holding company with limited liabilities will be set up in the
Binhai New Area to experiment with operating diverse financial businesses.
Under China's measures to rein in a growing number of bad loans, all banks
are disconnected from trust and investment companies, and banking, securities
and insurance businesses are operated independently.
"There is a bottleneck for operating banking, securities and insurance
businesses independently,"
said Dai, who used to be governor of the People's Bank of China, the
country's central bank.
Limited by the industry regulations, Chinese banks can not provide the
diverse financial services desired by a growing number of conglomerates, whose
business covers many fields.
However, foreign banks in China, with the support of their parent banking
groups based overseas, are offering multiple financial services, which certainly
puts Chinese banks at an disadvantageous situation, Dai said.
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