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China: Government opens doors to three new banks

By  |  July 25, 2014

As China looks to boost competition in the banking industry, authorities announced last Friday that three new private banks have been approved to launch operations in the country.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission said three new banks wll enter the market and increase competition to aid an industry that currently only has two private lenders. China first announced last March that it will look to reform the industry, dominated by four state-owned banks, by boosting the private sector.

One of the banks that will launch is owned by Internet conglomerate Tencent, reports say; Tencent owns China’s most popular mobile messaging app WeChat.

Tencent rival Alibaba, also based in China, reportedly lost the bidding to become one of the first to launch a new private bank in the country.

Full content: Channel News Asia

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