The Third National Financial Work Conference was held in Beijing on
January 19 and 20, 2007. During the conference, held once every
five years, Premier
Wen Jiabao highlighted problems facing China's
financial industry, including a growing international trade
imbalance, poor oversight of financial corporations and a defective
rural financial system. To counter these declines, he unveiled a
package of policies aimed at improving the country's financial
state. The reforms were sweeping, affecting the Agricultural Bank
of China's shareholding methods, increasing access to rural
financial institutions and expanding management and usage of
the nationa's huge foreign exchange reserves, with all the above
being debated at the meeting.