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Finance: Foreign-funded banks in China own $193b in assets

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-07 10:27

The total assets of foreign-funded banks in the Chinese mainland stood at some $193 billion by the end of March, up 55 percent year on year, the China Banking Association (CBA) said Sunday.

The assets of foreign-funded banks accounted for 2.44 percent of the total assets of the banks in China, it said.

Yang Zaiping, the CBA's vice chairman, told a seminar over the reform of the country's banking sector that the figure remains small despite a fast expansion of businesses by foreign-funded banks over the past years.

According to the association, the balance of loans among foreign-funded banks stood at $105.8 billion by the end of March, an increase of 61 percent over the the same period of last year. Their total deposits were $68.6 billion, up 84 percent.

By the end of March, Chinese branches operated by 57 foreign-funded banks, as well as 25 foreign-funded corporate banks, were approved to provide Renminbi services. Fifty foreign-funded banks were allowed to engage in transaction of financial derivatives.

Since foreign institutional investors were first allowed to invest in Chinese banks starting in 1996, 33 foreign banks have acquired stakes in 25 Chinese banks with a total investment of $21.3 billion by the end of last year, according to the CBA.