Ten city commercial banks in east China's Jiangsu Province will be merged into a new bank, sources with the China Banking Regulatory Commission said Sunday.

The new bank will be headquartered in Nanjing, the provincial capital city, and inaugurated later this year, assuming all debts and creditor's rights of city commercial banks based in Wuxi, Suzhou, Nantong and other cities, the sources said.

The new bank would invite foreign strategic investors to further boost its capital base and take advantage of their advanced management. A plan will soon be mapped out to dispose of the city commercial banks' non-performing assets.

China has more than 100 city commercial banks. To keep the commitments to the World Trade Organization, the country is overhauling its banks ahead of the full opening of the financial market to foreign rivals by the end of this year.

Source: Xinhua