September 09, 2007	Sunday	Sha'aban 26, 1428

SHANGHAI, Sept 8: China’s booming economy is creating more than 70 millionaires a day, but foreign banks don’t have enough products, client managers or offices to tap into the market for top-end private wealth services.

Banks including Citigroup Inc and Standard Chartered Plc know the world’s fourth-largest economy holds huge potential for private banking, but weak industry rules, strict foreign exchange controls, too few branches and a lack of expertise mean it will take years to reap profits.

“Market conditions for private banking business in China are still very immature,” Shanghai Pudong Development President Fu Jianhua told the Reuters China Century Summit.

“Almost every bank wants to get top-end customers, but no matter whether the banks are Chinese or foreign, the problem is whether we have enough professional private bank client managers to offer top-end services to customers,” he said.

The limited range of products on offer due to China’s highly regulated foreign exchange

system is another obstacle.

—Reuters