Shanghai, July 12-The administrative committee of Shanghai Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park said the developer and a few financial regulators in the city are stepping up with a new privately owned banking institution called Zhangjiang Bank, and currently eight initiative sponsors have been confirmed, all of who are in necessary due diligence procedures.

Action should be done to set up one or more new private banks devoted to supporting science and hi-tech innovations, as required in a piece of response by the State Council of China, the country’s top planner, in April, in the blueprint of acceleration in moves of establishment of a global wide science and hi-tech center in Shanghai.

The major businesses by the prepared bank are focused on science and hi-tech financial services, which will quite differentiate from all the five private banks that have been allowed by the banking regulators, said Ma Wengang, director of the innovation promotion division of the committee.

The official said the bank’s business will basically cover all necessary development movements of science and technology innovation including technical research and development, achievement transformation, manufacturing, marketing, and technical services as well.

The official added a science and tech financial product development committee will be affiliated to the board of directors of the bank, and a talent service department will also be set up in the operation management level. Both of that suggest the bank will run in a special way from those traditional banking institutions.

Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park has included 22 hi-tech lending service providers targeted at 320,000 firms located in the park, and has drawn over 2,300 financial product brokerages and sales agencies. The committee has raised 370 million yuan ($55 million) for a special fund to subsidy some of those firms with discounted loan interest.