"A stable share price for those banks with recent IPOs will have a strong impact on the interest in those that follow next year," he says.

Meanwhile, overseas banks will continue to take advantage of Chinese commercial bank reform to make equity investments to tap more widely into the local market.

Raymond Yu, general manager of Bank of East Asia, says that he is always looking for the right opportunities, and the bank has contacted some city commercial banks.

"Capital investment will be seen more and more, not only from overseas banks in Chinese banks, but also among Chinese financial institutions," says Zhao from the Renmin University of China.

Banking regulations

On the regulators' side, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the People's Bank of China and other regulators will continue to bring the banking regulations in line with international standards, including the Basel II compliance and the Anti-Money-Laundering regulations in 2007.

Wang Zhaoxing, assistant chairman of CBRC, says the commission will clear all the regulations and rules, improving the supervisory legal system and establishing a unified supervision policy towards foreign banks and domestic banks.

The commission will also promote deeper co-operation between overseas and Chinese banks in 2007, Wang says.

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