BEIJING, April 18 (Xinhua) -- The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) has set up a new department as a watchdog for the country's three policy banks, four asset management companies and the vast postal savings network.

    CBRC said in a statement the initiative will provide more independent and improved supervision of the banking industry. CBRC was spun off from the People's Bank of China, the central bank, three years ago. It already regulates the Big Four state commercial banks and 13 smaller national shareholder banks.

    The new financial institutions to fall under the CBRC's preview include China Development Bank, Agricultural Development Bank of China and The Export-Import Bank of China and China Postal Savings offices. Their combined assets have climbed to 11.4 percent of the industry's total by the end of 2005.

    China's four asset management companies, namely CINDA, Great Wall, Orient and Huarong, were set up in 1999 to dispose of a mountain of problem loans transferred from the Big Four, in a sweeping campaign to reform the financial industry. They had either written off or recovered 839.75 billion yuan in non-performing loans by the end of last year.

    A CBRC spokesman said the new department will require the financial institutions to provide more efficient services and guard against unreasonable business risks.

    According to the spokesman, a national postal savings bank based in the existing post offices could soon be established. It would be devoted to financing rural expansion which is currently the focus of China's development. Enditem