The central bank of China plans to establish a deposit insurance institution before the end of the year, according to insiders. The institution may be an independent body and will be given certain supervision rights. It will conduct inspection of deposit institutions and will be empowered to intervene where necessary.

The central government will earmark funds for the initial period of operation but the institution will conduct commercial operations and will be expected to make profits from insurance premiums and premium investment. "The organization will be inevitably be transformed from an official institution into a civil agency," said an insider.

For more details, please read the full story in Chinese (http://www.dfdaily.com/node2/node27/node119/userobject1ai62871.shtml).

(China.org.cn March 18, 2008)