China opening

摘要

The International Finance Corp. invested in China's city commercial banks for six years to make them models for reform. They learned the importance of global standards; the IFC learned patience. Now foreign banks stand to profit from its efforts. For nearly a decade the International Finance Corp., the World Bank's private sector arm, entreated Bank of Beijing to upgrade its operations by accepting a foreign strategic investor. The ultracon-servative Chinese city commercial bank kept rebuffing the agency. "Our advice just didn't take," recalls Timothy Krause, who oversees the IFC's day-to-day operations in Asia from Hong Kong. Still, Krause and his colleagues made progress. In 1996, not long after Bank of Beijing was formed from the merger of 90 urban credit cooperatives, the IFC, preaching better governance, financial transparency and a sound board structure, persuaded it to accept $700,000 in technical assistance for staff training. In 2002 the IFC convinced the bank to submit to an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers that brought its books into line with international standards.