China will step up its anti-money laundering enforcement by bringing capital-intensive securities and insurance industries under surveillance in the near future, a senior central bank official said on Wednesday.
   
Xiang Junbo, vice-governor of the People's Bank of China said regulators prepare to enforce anti-money laundering laws for the securities and insurance industries this year. He did not specify when this year.
   
He made the remarks in Wenzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province, where officials from China's anti-money laundering agencies met on Wednesday.
   
Xiang said China made important progress in anti-money laundering in 2005, as indicated by the drafting of the anti-money laundering law, better coordination among relevant agencies and much more frequent inspections at banks.
   
Xiang added that China has taken solid steps in pursuing international cooperation and preparations for China to join the "Finance Action Task Force".
   
(Xinhua News Agency March 2, 2006)