Chinese banks urged to earn more from intermediate business

China's banking regulator has urged Chinese banks to earn more money from intermediate business - business which does not use a bank's assets such as bank cards ande-banking.

China's large- and medium-sized banks should increase the ratio of intermediate business income against total revenue from 17 percent to 40 to 50 percent in five to ten years, said Tang Shuangning, vice chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

City commercial banks should lift the ratio from 3.67 percent to 20 percent in five years while rural financial cooperatives from less than one percent to 10 percent in five years, he said.

China's financial innovation and regulatory work will focus on financial derivatives, e-banking, bank cards, capital securitization and comprehensive management, he said.

Statistics show that non-interest income usually accounts for at least 50 percent of bank revenues in developed countries while the proportion can even reach 70-80 percent in some banks.

However, revenues of Chinese banks largely rely on profit margins between deposits and loans.