China cuts red tape in approving rural banks

China's banking regulator said on Wednesday that it will simplify administrative procedures for establishing rural commercial banks and credit cooperatives. The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said the procedures to be scrapped, totaling 13, include approvals over appointment of senior management, banks' fund custodian services, and stock collateral loan business under new regulations. It said the new rules aim to simplify the conditions for setting up rural commercial banks and credit cooperatives as well as make it easier for all kinds of capital to take part in building the rural financial system. However, the regulator said the banks' performance, including their strategic development and company management, will be supervised after they are established. Total assets of small and medium-sized financial institutions in rural China stood at 19.45 trillion yuan (3.17 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of January, accounting for 13.1 percent of the banking sector's total in the country.