China to improve regulation of systemically important banks

BEIJING - China will improve the regulatory framework for systemically important financial institutions, with the release of a draft to solicit public opinions on the measures for the evaluation of systematically important banks.

The draft was issued on Tuesday by the People's Bank of China and the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

The measures will be the basis for the identification of systemically important banks in China, according to a statement jointly issued by the two departments.

At present, the total assets of China's financial industry are around 300 trillion yuan ($42.65 trillion). The total assets of the banking industry are 268 trillion yuan, accounting for 89 percent of the total, data showed.

The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, and China Construction Bank have been included in the list of global systemically important banks, according to the statement.

Identifying and strengthening the supervision of systemically important banks will help improve the transmission mechanism of monetary policies, promote fair and orderly competition in the market, improve the stability of China's banking system, and help prevent and resolve systemic financial risks, analysts said.