Most bank branches in China's quake-hit southwestern Sichuan Province had resumed normal business as of Monday, the provincial banking regulatory bureau said.

One hundred and twenty-two branches resumed normal business on Monday, the Sichuan Banking Regulatory Bureau said. By Monday, the number of banking facilities operating normally reached 11,558, accounting for 92.3 percent of the total in the province, it added.

Banking institutions had lent 3.58 billion yuan (511 million U.S. dollars) for reconstruction work.

(Xinhua News Agency May 19, 2008)