Sixteen foreign banks have received approval to offer financial services in northeast China, said the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) in a statement on Thursday.

 

Nine banks have been allowed to set up branches and seven others have been given the green light to have representative offices in northeast China.

 

The Hongkong-Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) and two other banks have been given the go-ahead to do business in local currency with Chinese firms.

 

China, under a commitment to the World Trade Organization, will open its financial market to foreign banks by the end of this year.

 

The recent approvals are a move to support the nation's ongoing program to rejuvenate the northeast. China's northeastern "rust belt", includes a number of industrial cities that have been left behind eastern and southern coastal areas since China began its program of reforms in 1979.

 

The CBRC statement said the regulator is still scrutinizing the applications of seven other foreign banks that have applied to open branches or offices in the northeast.

 

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2006)