The Wall Street Journal reports on new Chinese banking regulations that will further delay Citigroup's China strategy.
The rules will "strengthen and improve the supervision and management of foreign banks and promote the stable operation of the banking sector," the State Council said in a statement Wednesday.
One would think, given the state of the Chinese banking system, that foreign banks require less supervision. But China can be -- how can I put it nicely? -- counter-intuitive.
FOLLOW-UP: Readers of Chinese will find of interest this 金融界 special edition on foreign banks. As of November 28, 2006, 金融界's online reader survey reported the following results:
外资银行管理条例发布调查
共有790人参与
您认为外资银行是否会对我国银行业造成冲击
会，内资银行将倒闭几家 53.04%
不会，内资银行可以经得住竞争 33.04%
不清楚，现在不好判断 13.92%
作为个人，您更倾向于选择内资银行还是外资银行
外资银行 54.81%
内资银行 45.19%
