On June 2, China's central bank, or the People's Bank of China, published on its web-site rules governing trials for settling trade in China’s currency yuan, kicking off a program proposed earlier this year. The move signaled a step towards the yuan's internationalization. The program will link qualified firms in five mainland cities -- Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai and Dongguan— to Hong Kong and Macau. PBOC, in conjunction with the Hong Kong and Macau monetary authorities, have designated the Bank of China's Hong Kong-listed unit as the clearing bank for the two special administrative regions.

According to data Caijing obtained from banking officials, China's four largest state-owned commercial banks lent out a total of 497 billion yuan in June, nearly twice the amount of credit extended in May. The Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China each lent 177 billion yuan in June, followed by China Construction Bank with 79 billion yuan and Industrial and Commercial Bank with 64 billion. China's new lending exceeded 1 trillion yuan in each of the first three months, before slowing to 591.8 billion yuan in April and 664.5 billion in May.

In what would be the latest move in signaling stricter regulation and monitoring of the banking business, the China Banking Regulatory Commission is likely to compel banks to carry funds raised for wealth management on their balance sheets. The balance sheet stipulation is expected to result in banks holding more capital in reserve, restricting their ability to expand. According to the latest data published by CBRC, 479 wealth management products in China - 12 percent of the total – recorded book-value losses at the end of the first quarter of 2009.