Wenzhou to pilot reforms

State Council allows private finance to play a bigger role

Wenzhou won Beijing's approval on Wednesday for a landmark financial pilot project that will allow residents of the coastal city to, among other things, invest privately overseas and set up loan companies.

At a State Council executive meeting chaired by Premier Wen Jiabao, the government selected Wenzhou in eastern Zhejiang province, a city with a deep tradition of entrepreneurship, to be a "pilot zone" for a series of financial reforms.