By Yi Xianrong
The Regulation on Administration of Foreign-funded Banks, issued
by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), came into effect
on Monday.
That day, the CBRC announced it had received applications from
eight foreign banks to turn their operations in China into locally
registered corporations.
The new regulation is in line with China's entry commitment to
the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001. It is also an important
step for the Chinese banking industry towards further opening
up.
The new regulation will have a significant influence on the
long-term development of the country's financial industry,
especially the banking sector. But they will not deal a huge shock
to domestic banks and there is no need for Chinese banks to panic
about the coming competition.
Despite the fact that China's banking sector has been open for a
long time and foreign banks have seen their businesses grow, the
latest statistics from the CBRC indicate the total assets of
foreign banks in China, in renminbi and other currencies, amounted
to US$105.1 billion by the end of September 1.9 percent of the
total assets of all financial institutions in China.
The low proportion of financial assets gives foreign banks
little leverage to shake the country's financial market.
The regulation on foreign-funded banks aims to seek a new
balance between fulfilling China's WTO commitment and protecting
the interests of domestic banks and customers.
The authorities have resorted to a preferential policy for
foreign-funded banks registered as legal entities within China.
Under this policy, foreign banks are free to choose their own
forms of commercial operation, but the authorities encourage those
with an extensive network of retail services, and those that are
willing to start their retail services in renminbi, to register
their Chinese branches as legal entities in this country.
Foreign banks can make their own choices in penetrating the
Chinese market. Different choices incur different criteria in terms
of market access and supervision. Thus, they have greater control
over the risks of tapping a new market.
Foreign banks that set up their operations in China, the CBRC
stressed, will be subject to the same supervision and market access
as their Chinese counterparts.
The CBRC has also emphasized a prudential supervision principle
and it is planning to regulate the risk-control of the whole
banking industry with a set of statistic indexes.
Foreign banks would have extra preferential treatment if they
invest in the central and western parts of the country, where the
financial services are relatively underdeveloped.
The entry of foreign banks to the Chinese market has been
inevitable since the nation launched a reform in the late 1970s.
The opening-up has restructured the banking industry and propelled
the development of the financial sector. The financial market,
financial products and services are being reshaped.
There are worries that foreign banks could grip market share and
take away high-end clients and top managers from domestic
banks.
But these concerns are unnecessary.
The banking sector is under the influence of the government and
a large part of the financial assets are held by State-owned banks.
But competition based on the market has already developed between
Chinese banks and each of them occupies a specific position in the
market in accordance with their competitive edge.
It will not be easy for foreign banks to get a foothold in the
market if they do not choose the right strategy in localization.
Judging by the current market share of foreign banks, it will take
quite some time for them to squeeze into the market or shake off
their Chinese competitors.
True, many foreign banks have richer experience or better
techniques in services, financial products, corporate governance
and risk control.
However, financial products are not patented in any form. New
products and services can easily be copied or imitated. Therefore,
foreign banks may quickly lose the competitive advantage of new
financial services after their competitors make the necessary moves
to catch up like offering similar services.
Concerns over foreign banks dragging talents from domestic
competitors are not baseless. But this was only likely to happen
two decades ago.
China has seen a higher-education boom in recent years, so
financial talents have also increased in number. Even if some of
them took jobs in foreign banks, it would not change the overall
layout of financial talents, because foreign banks would take a
very small proportion of the total banking assets of this
country.
Moreover, domestic banks now offer much higher wages to their
employees since their reform and financial restructure. The gap
between salaries at foreign and domestic banks is no longer as big
as it used to be.
Foreign banks are no longer as attractive to financial talents,
and some foreign bank managers who left domestic banks years ago
are now returning to Chinese lenders.
Therefore, foreign banks are unlikely to pose a threat to
domestic banks by drawing talents from them.
The new regulation will not create much disturbance to the
financial market, nor will the entry of foreign banks to the retail
business affect customers.
The only change is that the banking sector will see more vibrant
development, with new market players competing to provide better
financial services for customers.
(China Daily December 15, 2006)