AFP, Beijing :
China will launch a trial programme for private firms to set up banks, the country’s banking regulator said Tuesday, with Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba reportedly among the first applicants.
Most Chinese lenders are state-controlled and banks founded by private companies are extremely rare, while access to lending is a key element of the Communist authorities’ control of the economy.
At a key meeting in November the ruling party listed opening the banking industry to private investors as one of its major reform policies for the financial sector to introduce competition and help small enterprises obtain loans.
“We have selected a few private capital (investors) to jointly participate in the trial programme of (the setup of) five banks in the first batch,” Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told reporters.
He was speaking at a briefing on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress, China’s Communist-controlled legislature.
Alibaba and Tencent, which have been expanding their online finance business in recent years, Shanghai-based conglomerate Fosun, auto parts maker Wangxiang Group and six other private owned companies have been chosen to be the investors, the People’s Daily quoted Shang as saying in an interview.
