State bank shake-up to help increase private ownership

China's large State-owned banks aim to improve their corporate governance by diversifying ownership. The move, experts said, could have greater significance than the reforms and stock market listings of State-owned lenders at the beginning of the century.

The Bank of Communications, the nation's fifth-largest lender by assets, announced on June 16 that the State Council had approved its plan to deepen reform. The bank said it would look into introducing more private capital and launch employee and executive stock ownership plans.

By the end of March, the State held more than 30 percent of the bank's shares, a much lower holding compared with other large, State-owned lenders.