Balanced growth

The CBRC has always encouraged the banks and financial institutions - in a commercially sustainable manner - to expand their branches, and extend their services to the less-developed regions. This is the banking industry's important contribution to the balanced growth of the country.

Bank loans to the central and western parts of China have grown faster than those to the better-off eastern region for four years in a row. Much of the funds have gone to infrastructure construction, ecological restoration and industrial relocation.

The financial services offered by institutions in the countryside laid a solid foundation for the development of modern agricultural industries.

The accelerating number of loans to agriculture stayed higher than the average growing speed of all loans in 2013.

Serving small firms

Banks have also taken concrete actions to solve the difficulties small and micro businesses face in obtaining loans and the other financing problems.

Some small and medium-sized banks have developed into specialized banks serving smaller enterprises, while the big banks have set up special centers and branches for small and micro-sized enterprises.

And the banks pay special attention to serving small and micro enterprises by building a special system, in terms of interest rate risk pricing, independent accounting, loan approvals, personnel training and information disclosure.

Lending to small and micro enterprises is no longer a small business, but an increasingly important part of the whole banking industry's development strategies. The loans to such enterprises have increased at a faster average growth rate than that for all loans.

The CBRC encourages banks and financial institutions to offer innovative services and products to small and medium-sized enterprises and especially small and micro-sized enterprises to help them create more jobs.

New opportunities

Shang said the recovery of global economy, the deepening of reform in China, as well as the country's new urbanization move, the initiative to solve overcapacity of manufacturing industries, a new growth mode driven by innovation and the new developments of the financial market have all offered new opportunities to the transformation and development of China's banking industry.

However, Shang said the banking industry also faces many challenges at present because of the complicated and fast-changing international economic and financial dynamics, the shift of China's growth mode and the newly emerging financial business modes. "All these test our ability to adapt to changes and control risks," Shang said.

"We should further promote reform and opening-up, improve financial services, enhance risk control and improve operational efficiency to lift the industry's capacity to serve the real economy," Shang stressed.

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