Professor Justin Yifu Lin of the Beijing University said that the meeting had provided "crucial thoughts for future rural financial reforms".

He said that the next step China would take is to establish more specific regulations.

Regarding to the rapidly expanding foreign exchange reserves which hit US$1.06 trillion, Wen Jiabao said that China would steadily push forward the foreign exchange rates reform and actively explore and expand the use of massive stockpile.

He said that China would strengthen operation and management of foreign exchange reserves and facilitate the balance of international payment.

While China's economy maintained a double-digit growth, the country has seen a yawning wealth gap. The government said financial institutions would be encouraged to grant more support to the capital-hungry to small- and medium-sized enterprises, self-innovation projects, public causes and the less developed regions.

The Cabinet also agreed to facilitate the fair competition between domestic and foreign financial institutions and advance financial collaboration between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao.

David Dollar, director of the China Bureau of the World Bank, said that the meeting came at a critical time.

China promised to further open up its financial industry after wrapping up the five-year grace period for its WTO entry, which would help China to build a more open and competent financial system, he said.

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