They are Japanese banks Sumitomo Mitui Banking Corporation and Tokai Bank Ltd as well as Korea Exchange Bank and Cho Hung Bank from the Republic of Korea.

An official surnamed Chai at the People's Bank of China branch in Tianjin told China Daily: "We have submitted these applications to the central bank for approval.''

Senior officials at Tianjin branches of the four banks said the target customers for their renminbi services will mainly be Japanese- and South Korean-funded companies in the city.

Access to renminbi business will enable the banks to combine foreign-exchange services and renminbi services, provide more extensive financial services to their customers and improve the overall quality of their services, the banks said.

They believe it will also be a great help for Japanese and South Korean companies in doing business in Tianjin and will promote more investment into the city.

The four banks are among about a hundred foreign-funded banking institutions that are expected to be able to get access to renminbi business this year.

China promised that, after joining the World Trade Organization, it would let foreign-funded banks, financial companies and branches of foreign banks in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Dalian provide renminbi business to foreign-funded companies.

Tianjin has 14 foreign banking institutions at present, with total assets of US$2.8 billion and loans of US$1.15 billion.

Chai said 10 of them fulfil the basic requirement of the People's Bank of China whereby they must have operated for over three years and been profitable for two consecutive years.

The 10 comprise four from South Korean institutions, two from Japan, two from France, one from the United States and one from Singapore.

People's Bank of China officials in Shanghai, Shenzhen and Dalian also confirmed that many foreign banking institutions in the three cities are applying to conduct renminbi business but the officials declined to release details.

Shanghai now have 71 foreign banking institutions, while there are 23 in Shenzhen and 10 in Dalian.

People's Bank of China officials in Shanghai and Shenzhen said that, although detailed information was unavailable, they believed the majority of the institutions could fulfil the basic requirement and will soon get approval from China's central bank.

Many of these institutions started business in Shenzhen in 1996 or before and have a good track record, said a Shenzhen official.

Since December 1996, the People's Bank of China has let 31 foreign banking institutions conduct renminbi business. The renminbi-denominated assets of these institutions totalled 45 billion yuan (US$5.43 billion) as of the end of last year, with over 39 billion yuan (US$4.71 billion) in loans.

Twenty-three of the institutions are in Shanghai and eight are in Shenzhen, according to People's Bank of China statistics.

(China Daily February 21, 2002)