Chinese banking is currently dominated by the ‘big four’ state owned banks: Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and the Agricultural Bank of China. There are also 11 joint-stock commercial banks, in which private shares are issued and a more progressive approach to banking is offered through increased operational autonomy.

Problems with Chinese banks can be divided into two areas: financial and service. Professor He Li-ping of Beijing Normal University, writing of the sector’s problems in 2001, described Chinese banks as being rudimentary, in that most of their business purely consisted of taking deposits and then making loans with that money.

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