China mulls more financial aid to urbanization

BEIJING - China may borrow overseas experiences to finance its massive urbanization over the next decades through asset securitization and municipal bonds in addition to bank loans, central banker Zhou Xiaochuan said on Wednesday.

"It's fair to say that many overseas financial instruments can be applied to China's urbanization, especially in term of the construction of infrastructure facilities and public utilities," said the governor of the People's Bank of China on the sideline of the nation's political advisory body annual session.

"From the professional point of view, the key is to weigh which financial instruments can be more effective," he said, noting that "bank loan, of course, is also a financing channel."

Zhou stressed that rules must be established before a financial instrument is put to use.

"Some rules must be created, others revised," he said.

Urbanization has become one of the hottest investment "gold mines" in China. Commercial banks have been especially active in showing their interests, but many argued bank loans might not be the most suitable tool.