Foreign-funded banks on the Chinese mainland recorded $171.46 billion in gross assets at the end of 2007, a growth of 47 percent over the level at the beginning of the year.

According to a report released Wednesday by the People's Bank of China, the combined assets of foreign-invested banks made up 2.4 percent of the total assets of financial institutions nationwide. The foreign-funded banks' gross assets included $95.16 billion in outstanding loans, up 54.7 percent. Their combined liabilities rose 45 percent to $155.4 billion, including $60.66 billion in outstanding deposits, up 68.8 percent.

By the end of 2007, China Banking Regulatory Commission approved branches of 21 foreign banks on the mainland to transform into corporate banks, and 17 of them started operation. This brought the number of operational foreign corporate banks on the mainland to 26 at the end of the year.

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2008)