China Postal Savings Bank (CPSB) opened a provincial-level branch in eastern Zhejiang province on Wednesday, bringing the number of provinces in which it can conduct a full range of financial services to 20.

 

With 1,500 post office outlets already established in Zhejiang, CPSB, now China's fifth largest commercial bank in terms of deposits following its inauguration nine months ago, will be able to provide credit card business, loans and financial management services in both urban and rural areas, according to a branch spokesman.

 

Post offices in China began to offer postal savings services in 1986 but until now were not authorized to provide lending or credit card services.

 

There are 36,000 post office outlets nationwide, almost 60 percent of them in rural areas, and 270 million account holders.

 

CPSB has been officially approved to establish branches at all levels around the country, including 34 provincial-level branches and over 20,000 sub-branches, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said.

 

The bank's governor Tao Liming previously said it aimed to open all its provincial-level branches by the end of this month.

 

By the end of October, CPSB had registered 1.7 trillion yuan (about 233 billion U.S. dollars) in deposits.

 

CPSB was inaugurated last March representing a substantial step forward in China's financial reform and is expected to improve financial services in the country's rural areas.

 

(Xinhua News Agency January 10, 2008)