Five foreign banks will soon be allowed to issue bank cards in China, according to Qi Jianming, deputy director of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) Supervision Department III, which oversees foreign banks in China.

The five banks, namely the HSBC Bank; the Bank of East Asia; Standard Chartered Bank; Citibank and Hang Seng Bank, will be approved for the bank card service after they meet relative technique standards.

According to Qi Jianming, by the end of October, 35 overseas banks will have acquired stakes in 23 Chinese banks, with investment worth 21 billion US dollars.

Qi says there are 21 foreign banks that have been approved to transform their Chinese branches into locally incorporated banks registered on the mainland. With 6 of them been approved to carry out renminbi business with domestic residents.

According to the CBRC, total assets of overseas banks in China hit 153.9 billion US dollars as of the end of October, up 41 percent from the same month last year
 
The author is a researcher with the China Samsung Economic Research Institute