China Development Bank will take the lead in developing
commercial banking services under reforms that will see the
country's three policy banks become more market-oriented.
The three banks - China Development Bank, the Export and Import
Bank of China and the Agricultural Development Bank of China - will
carry out their reforms under different policies suited to their
individual operational conditions, said Premier Wen Jiabao at the
National Financial Work Conference.
China Development Bank will become the first of the three policy
banks to start commercial operations. The bank will focus on
middle- and long-term financial services, Wen said.
The three policy banks were established in 1994, when the
government decided to promote the reform of the Big Four
State-owned commercial banks and split policy lending from their
operations.
The policy banks have played a vital role in supporting the
country's large-scale infrastructure projects, mechanical and
electrical equipment sectors and rural development.
But, "it is imperative to call for the transformation of the
policy banking system since the traditional function of policy
banks is increasingly questionable within the context of a market
economy," said Han Meng, an expert from the Chinese Academy of
Social Sciences.
Market insiders predicted that as a commercial bank, China
Development Bank will have the best asset quality among all the
country's banks.
Statistics from the bank show that by the end of last year, it
had managed assets worth 3.1 trillion yuan.
(China Daily January 22, 2007)