Jan. 10, 2007 (China Knowledge) – Foreign banks’ assets have been growing rapidly in Shanghai in 2006, increasing by 30% to US$60 billion, according to the Shanghai Municipal Office of Finance Service.

Foreign banks now constitute 14.2% of total assets in the banking sector in Shanghai, up from 13.1% in 2005. This figure is set to grow, as Fang Haixing, deputy director of Shanghai Municipal Office of Finance Service, estimates that foreign banks’ total assets will account for between 20% and 30% of Shanghai's banking sector in the future.

The number of foreign banks’ business branches has also doubled from five years ago to 94 by the end of last October.