PBOC seeks wider role for private sector
As internet technology changes the industry landscape, Beijing says it will allow tie-ups like the one between Alibaba and Minsheng Bank
Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan is calling for more private-sector financing to help smooth the mainland's credit supply-and-demand curve.
To "moderately" widen market access to the banking sector, Beijing would support the establishment of private banks, boost the development of micro-credit companies and encourage internet and mobile-phone banking, the People's Bank of China chief said in an article in the Communist Party's magazine yesterday.
China Minsheng Banking signed a strategic tie-up with e-commerce giant Alibaba yesterday, underscoring the integration of traditional financial services with internet technology, which is changing the banking landscape on the mainland.
Minsheng Bank, the mainland's largest privately owned bank, said it would sell wealth management products through Alibaba, set up a direct-sale shop on Taobao, Alibaba's business-to-customer platform, develop information-technology solutions for banking services together with the e-commerce company, and collaborate in capital clearing and settlement and credit-card businesses.
Bank president Hong Qi said the co-operation was a "milestone" in the development of internet-based finance.
Beijing wants to open the banking sector wider to private capital, including internet firms, to improve financial services to smaller companies.
