Banks cut payroll to enhance competitiveness
( 2003-11-12 21:25) (Xinhua)
China's four major state-owned banks cut
approximately 250,000 employees during the past four years in a bid to enhance
efficiency, a senior banking supervisor said.
The 1998-2002 period also saw the four banks trim some 45,000 subordinate
units, said Tang Shuangning, vice chairman of the China Banking Regulatory
Commission (CBRC), on Tuesday at an international forum on WTO and China
sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce and Beijing Municipal Government.
The four banks are the China Construction Bank, the Industrial and Commercial
Bank of China (ICBC), the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China.
The streamlining process is still going on with a view to better competing
with banks from overseas, which have been given wider access to the Chinese
banking market after China's entry into the WTO.
Tang also revealed policies at the forum regarding the reform of the four
banks. They are"-- After meeting certain conditions, these banks could be
transformed into state-controlled share-holding banks; and
-- After meeting certain conditions, these banks could seek listing on the
stock market.
As China honors its WTO obligations in opening up the banking sector, it also
feels increasing pressure from foreign banks, Tang said. Compared with their
foreign counterparts, Chinese banks are still inferior in a number of business
fields, including corporate governance structure, asset quality, capital,
capacity to earn profits and innovation ability.
Chinese banks have no time to lose in bracing for a massive influx of foreign
competitors, expected to occur five years from China's WTO entry in December
2001.
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