Source: China Daily

05-22-2007 10:24

It's time for local banks to reconsider their strategies and come up with more innovative products and services for customers who might otherwise be wooed away by overseas rivals.

Facing unprecedented competition from overseas banks, with four of them launching locally incorporated businesses on the mainland, domestic players are beginning to feel the need for a major paradigm shift.

In Shanghai, the nation's financial hub, where the banking battle will be the bloodiest, local banks must seek innovative products and services, especially in the wealth management sector, to fend off competition in the retail market.

"For the banking industry in Shanghai, this is the best time in its history to innovate and develop," said the China Banking Regulatory Commission's Shanghai bureau, citing a double-digit economic expansion for more than 10 years in the city and an improvement in the overall financial environment.