The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has announced that it has approved nine foreign-funded banks to transform their Chinese branches into locally incorporated banks registered on the mainland. The nine banks, all to be registered in Shanghai, are the Standard Chartered Bank, the Bank of East Asia, the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp., the Hang Seng Bank, the Mizuho Corporate Bank, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, the DBS Group, Citibank and the ABN Amro Bank.

Statistics show the Chinese branches of the nine banks accounted for 34 percent of all the branches run by foreign-funded banks in China by September 2006. Their total assets and profits in China took up 55 percent and 58 percent of those of all the foreign-funded banks in the country, respectively. ( Xinhua News )