China will set up three to five fully private banks in a pilot program this year, in a bid to further open up the financial industry to domestic and foreign capital. This is according to the country's top banking regulator the China Banking and Regulatory Commission.
The private capital will either aim at restructuring the current banking institutions, or setting up new ones. Regulation will be strict and only a limited number of licenses will be issued.
Experts say the private banks may be restricted to basic practices such as deposits, loans, and wealth management, but may not include riskier operations.
Source: CCTV
