China will continue the reform of the banking industry this year focusing on the introduction of a shareholding system in Agricultural Bank of China and the reform of China Development Bank, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday.

"We will speed up reforms of the financial system and strengthen financial oversight," said Wen. In early February, ABC spokesman Zhou Qingyu said the bank would go public "at an appropriate time" after it finishes financial restructuring, as well as incorporation, and introduces strategic investors.

"It could be any time in the next three years," he said.

The bank reported a profit of 96 billion yuan (US$13.3 billion) last year, up 64 percent from 2006.

In 2007, the ABC's deposit business increased 549.7 billion yuan, while its loan business increased 330.4 billion yuan. It also cleared 57.4 billion yuan in bad loans.

A reform plan of the CDB ratified by the State Council in mid-February will turn the policy bank to a commercial lender, earlier reports said.

According to the plan, the CDB will go through a series of reforms including restructuring, company management framework adjustment and will go public when the time is right.

The move ended a four-year discussion on the CDB's commercialization, prolonged by consideration of the bank's special status and low capital adequacy ratio.

The CDB is required to set up a stock company within six months after the plan is fixed. Chen Yuan, governor of the lender, will probably be the board chairman, Shanghai Securities News reported.

After the commercialization, the lender is to expand the wholesale banking business and market investments as well as continuing to support the country's key sectors and priority projects, the source said. The CDB now owns 32 branches and four representative offices nationwide.