Provincial government awaits final regulatory go-ahead

The nation's first privately sponsored banks in 18 years could be born in Zhejiang province, a sign of the government's increasing willingness to allow private capital to play a role in the State-dominated sector, according to a number of officials and business executives.

You Xiaoping, chairman of Huafeng Group Co Ltd, a Wenzhou-based chemical materials provider, told China Daily that his company has joined with other local entrepreneurs to file an application to launch a private bank.