Chen told the opening of the city's working conference on finance that local banks had a total of 1.23 trillion yuan (US$140 billion) in assets. By the end of June, the outstanding deposits and loans of these banks stood at 920 billion yuan (US$110 billion) and 680 billion yuan (US$80 billion), respectively, he said.

In 2001, the financial sector accounted for 13.8 percent of the city's gross domestic product, compared with 10 percent in 1995.

Shanghai banks lead the country in major indexes of performances, according to statistics.

In securities, the Shanghai Stock Exchange (SSE), the first of the two bourses in China, has listed 675 companies and raised 410 billion yuan (US$50 billion), since it was established 12 years ago.

The capitalization of Shanghai's stock market has risen to 3.1 trillion yuan (US$373 billion), against three billion yuan (US$375 million) at the beginning. The SSE ranks 13th among over 200 bourses around the world in terms of capitalization, following the stock exchanges of Tokyo and Hong Kong.

In recent years, Shanghai has become the national center of funds distribution, and leads the formation of national capital markets, including the interbank loans market, the bond market, and the foreign exchange market.

Many Chinese banks, securities companies and fund management companies have set up their headquarters in Shanghai or moved to the city from other parts of the country.

Chinese-funded banks in Shanghai make up six percent of the country's total in terms of deposits, loans and assets, while overseas-funded banks in the city accounted for over 50 percent of the country's total regarding their deposits, loans and assets.

(Xinhua News Agency August 6, 2002)