Rural banking opens to individuals under CBRC draft

China plans to allow individuals to establish rural commercial banks as the country eases control over private capital in the banking sector, under a draft document from the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The minimum registered capital for rural commercial banks is 50 million yuan ($8.2 million). Qualified originators include natural persons (that is, individuals), domestic non-financial institutes and domestic and overseas banks using internal capital, according to the draft.

"Fifty million yuan is not much for an individual who wants to enter the banking sector," said Qu Hongbin, chief of HSBC Holdings Plc, Asia Pacific. "It must be easy for many entrepreneurs or investors to come up with that amount."