China's Big Four banks stop crimes involving 489 million yuan

China's "big four" state-owned commercial banks curbed 98 criminal cases involving 489 million yuan (59 million US dollars) in the first four months this year, according to sources with China Banking Regulatory Commission.

The "big four" are the Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Agricultural Bank of China (ABC).

With effective measures, the ICBC prevented 14 cases, involving 314 million yuan, the ABC 19 cases, involving 14 million yuan, the BOC 34 cases, involving 124 million yuan, and the CCB 31 cases, involving 36 million yuan, according to the commission.

Alarming bank crimes have been frequently unveiled in recent years, as China is striving to reform its banking system, whose rate of non-performing loans stood at 15.6 percent on average by the end of 2004.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission has urged the "big four " to make greater efforts to establish strict internal-control system and safeguarding system to prevent and control the occurrence of financial crimes.