Standard Chartered Bank has submitted an application to the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) for a license to operate RMB business in Beijing as the country further opens its banking sector to overseas lenders, Shenzhen Daily reported Friday.

The emerging market-focused bank hoped to launch its RMB services in the capital city in the first quarter of 2005, the Beijing Youth Daily cited a bank spokesman as saying Thursday.

��We have been preparing for this opportunity for two years since China agreed on its WTO entry to open up Beijing��s banking market this December,�� the spokesman said.

��We can meet the requirements for RMB business in the city,�� he said. The British lender has already been allowed RMB business in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Nanjing.

��Overseas banks are now allowed to provide RMB services to Chinese enterprises in Beijing, Kunming, Xiamen, Xi��an and Shenyang,�� Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said Wednesday.

Xi��an and Shenyang opened up one year ahead of schedule, he added. ��Qualified applicants for RMB services will be granted licenses within a month after we receive their applications,�� Lai Xiaomin, director of the CBRC��s Beijing office, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

��More than half of the 24 overseas banks in Beijing meet the requirements for RMB business,�� he said.

The CBRC said a total of 105 overseas banking institutions had obtained separate licenses to offer RMB services in 18 cities on the Chinese mainland.

The banking regulator also pledged to continue the opening of its banking sector as overseas banks are playing an increasingly important role in the domestic market.

It had approved a total of nine foreign financial institutions to acquire equity stakes in homegrown banks, Liu said.

Among the most recent investments, HSBC Holdings Plc. has taken a 19.9 percent stake in the Bank of Communications, while U.S. equity fund Newbridge Capital Corp. has bought 17.89 percent of Shenzhen Development Bank.

Xi��an Commercial Bank has also attracted the Bank of Nova Scotia from Canada and the International Finance Corp., the private-sector arm of the World Bank.

Standard Chartered last month signed a deal to take a 19.99 percent stake in Bohai Commercial Bank, which is subject to approval by the CBRC.

Source: Shenzhen Daily-Agencies