116 banks get nod for yuan business
(Shenzhen Daily-Agencies)
Updated: 2005-01-17 15:09

China had approved a total of 116 foreign bank branches to conduct yuan-denominated business with Chinese firms, in line with commitments to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the banking regulator of the Chinese government said Friday.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a statement on its Web site that institutions approved to offer yuan services at some of their branches include units of HSBC Holdings, Standard Chartered, Bank of East Asia, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Citigroup.

The overseas lenders would only be allowed to operate in selected cities, 18 of which were approved by the end of 2004, most recently Beijing, Kunming and Xiamen, the CBRC said in a statement on its Web site, www.cbrc.gov.cn.

Geographic restrictions would be abolished completely by the end of 2006 as part of the promise made by the Chinese government to allow foreign banks full access to Chinese companies wanting to conduct yuan business within two years of joining the WTO in December 2001.

Among the operations already approved, HSBC and Standard Chartered can conduct yuan-denominated business in Beijing and Xiamen, and Citibank can operate in Beijing.

At present, foreign banks can only offer yuan services to domestic and foreign companies.

Last month, China opened five new cities to foreign banks to conduct yuan services, boosting the total to 18.

Yuan business in Xi'an and Shenyang was permitted from December last year, a year earlier than China was committed to opening the cities.

China would also step up its hearing of other banks' applications, the statement said.

Foreign banks have been eager to gain more access to booming China, the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion people and about US$1.3 trillion in personal savings.

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