whereby they must have operated for over three years and been profitable for two consecutive years.
The 10 comprise four from South Korean institutions, two from Japan, two from France, one from the United States and one from Singapore.
People's Bank of China officials in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dalian also confirmed that many foreign banking institutions in the three cities are applying to conduct renminbi business but the officials declined to release details.
Shanghai now have 71 foreign banking institutions, while there are 23 in Shenzhen and 10 in Dalian.
People's Bank of China officials in Shanghai and Shenzhen said that, although detailed information was unavailable, they believed the majority of the institutions could fulfil the basic requirement and will soon get approval from China's central bank.
Many of these institutions started business in Shenzhen in 1996 or before and have a good track record, said a Shenzhen official.
Since December 1996, the People's Bank of China has let 31 foreign banking institutions conduct renminbi business. The renminbi-denominated assets of these institutions totalled 45 billion yuan (US$5.43 billion) as of the end of last year, with over 39 billion yuan (US$4.71 billion) in loans.
Twenty-three of the institutions are in Shanghai and eight are in Shenzhen, according to People's Bank of China statistics.
(China Daily February 21, 2002)