Singapore Temasek Holdings plans to build five, solely funded village banks in northeast China's Jilin Province, with registered capital of 200 million yuan (US$29.4 million) for each bank. The five banks are expected to open at the end of this year, according to the financial service office of Jilin government.

As a sovereign investment fund of Singapore, Temasek is interested in China's rural financial business. The company spent as much as US$300 million to buy stock of the Agricultural Bank of China as a cornerstone investor.

By now, a number of foreign-funded banks, including Citibank and HSBC, have built village banks in China with high profits every year.

China's business press carried the story above on Friday. China.org.cn has not checked the stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.