At the top of the list of major measures will be an acceleration of the commercialization reform of China's ailing state-owned commercial banks, mainly referring to the reform of the "Big Four'' commercial banks, said Wu.

The establishment of a modern coperate governance system will top the agenda for the state-owned commercial banks, and an internationally accepted, cautious, accounting standard that will help them better ward off risks will also be implemented, Wu continued.

"State-owned commercial banks should not have to lend policy-oriented loans, their business should cater to market demands and be under their strict risk control system,'' said Wu.

In answer to a question regarding the listing prospective of state-owned commercial banks, Wu said the Bank of China, one of the four largest commercial banks, is now working out some internal structural changes believed to be a prerequisite to public flotation.

Speaking yesterday at the World Economic Forum China Business Summit, she declined to disclose further details of preparatory works of the listing of state-owned commercial banks.

But Wu said the central bank is hoping to aid the development of China's fledging medium and small commercial banks by offering them more opportunity to go public on the equity market, in a move to provide them easier access to funds.

In the queue waiting for public flotation, according to earlier reports, are the Huaxia Bank, the Everbright Bank, China Merchant's Bank, other smaller banks and the Bank of Communications -- China's fifth largest commercial bank. All this follows the successful listing of the Minsheng Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank last year.

Wu also said progress in accountancy, transparency and disclosure standards and improvements in the legal and regulatory framework and supervision and monitoring systems are steps that will be taken in the next few years.

Wu pointed out that China's domestic banking sector will be put under heavy pressure by foreign rivals after the WTO accession in areas such as competition for high-quality customers, high-profile personnel and due to superior management systems, supervision mechanisms and capabilities.

However, it will not be a live-or-die situation for all China's commercial banks as there is much that links foreign and domestic banks.

Zhu Min, economic adviser to the president of the Bank of China, said domestic banks will be concentrating more on their retail businesses, backed by extensive networks nationwide, while their foreign rivals will be concentrating more on the development of their wholesale businesses in the China market, where it might be too expensive for them to develop extensive networks.

(China Daily 04/19/2001)