China's banking regulator said Thursday it would honor its commitment to the World Trade Organization and further reduce restrictions on business scope of foreign banks in 2005.

Foreign banks will be allowed to provide renminbi business in more cities, including Ningbo and Shantou, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a report.

It pledged that an increasing number of foreign banks and their business outlets would be able to do business in China, and that joint-stock banks would also be on the increase.

By the end of 2004, 116 operational entities of foreign banks had been granted renminbi licenses, 61 of which were given the green light to provide renminbi services to Chinese enterprises.

The CBRC said foreign banks witnessed rapid growth in yuan deposit business last year, and a major part of their deposits came still from foreign institutions in China.

Foreign banks extended the largest part of their renminbi- denominated loans to the sectors of manufacturing, wholesale, retail sales and property, it said.

Source: Xinhua