Shanghai likely to welcome third commercial bank
20/2/2003 16:31
A third commercial city bank may open in Shanghai if the new bank
proposal is approved by the country's central bank, Hu Pingxi, governor of the
Shanghai branch of People's Bank of China (PBC), said yesterday.
Hu
didn't say whether the central bank has approved the proposal or not.
The
two existing commercial city banks are Pudong Development Bank and Bank of
Shanghai.
Shanghai Rural Credit Cooperatives (SRCC), the local branch of
China Rural Credit Cooperatives (CRCC), submitted the new bank proposal at the
end of last year to the PBC to launch a commercial city bank by merging its
230-plus outlets in rural Shanghai, according to officials with the financial
institution.
The bank will continue SRCC's policy of targeting farmers
and enterprises in rural areas, and it will probably be called Shanghai
Cooperative Bank, according to the officials.
Whether the trial
flexible-rate system will be allowed for the commercial bank is
uncertain.
Some CRCC branches are offering flexible interest rates on a
trial basis in a bid to increase the number of loans to farmers and
small-and-medium-sized enterprises.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
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