In China, banks are mainly divided into three categories: central banks, commercial banks and policy banks.
As the central bank of China, the People's Bank of China has three functions: formulating and implementing monetary policy, implementing financial supervision and providing payment and settlement services.
The functions of China Commercial Bank mainly include four basic functions (1) credit intermediary function. It is the most basic function of commercial banks and can best reflect the characteristics of their business activities. The essence of this function is to concentrate all kinds of idle money in the society in the bank through the debt business of the bank, and then invest it in various economic sectors through the asset business; As the intermediary or representative of both borrowers and lenders of monetary funds, commercial banks realize the financing and obtain interest income from the difference between the cost of absorbing funds and the interest income of loans and investment income, thus forming bank profits. Commercial banks have become "big businessmen" buying and selling "capital goods". Commercial banks realize financing between capital surplus and deficiency through the function of credit intermediary, without changing the ownership of monetary capital, but only the right to use it.
(2) Payment intermediary function. Commercial banks not only act as credit intermediaries and finance monetary funds, but also perform monetary management functions. Through the transfer of deposits in the account, you can pay on behalf of customers, pay cash for customers on the basis of deposits, and become the currency keeper, cashier and payment agent of industrial and commercial enterprises, groups and individuals. Taking commercial banks as the center, a payment chain and the relationship between creditor's rights and debts with no beginning and no end are formed in the economic process.
(3) Credit creation function. On the basis of credit intermediary function and payment intermediary function, commercial banks have produced credit creation function. Commercial banks are banks that can absorb all kinds of deposits and issue loans with all kinds of deposits absorbed. On the basis of cheque circulation and transfer settlement, loans are converted into deposits. On the basis of not withdrawing cash or completely withdrawing cash from such deposits, we will increase the sources of funds for commercial banks and eventually form derivative deposits several times as many as the original deposits in the whole banking system. For a long time, commercial banks are the only financial institutions that can absorb demand deposits and open checking deposit accounts. Here, demand deposits are created and contracted through their own credit activities, and demand deposits are the main part of the loan market supply; Fen and Yin Mei: Commercial banks can circulate liabilities as money, which has the function of creating a 1 credit warehouse.
(4) Financial service function. With the development of economy, the business environment of industrial and commercial enterprises is becoming more and more complicated, and the business competition between banks is becoming more and more fierce. Because of extensive contacts and well-informed information, especially the wide application of computers in banking business, banks have the conditions to provide information services to customers, consulting services, decision support services for enterprises and other services came into being. The development of specialized production and circulation in industrial and commercial enterprises requires that many money businesses originally belonging to enterprises be transferred to banks. Personal consumption has also developed from simple money and goods transactions to transfer settlement. Modern social life puts forward many requirements for financial services of commercial banks. Under the strong impetus of business competition, commercial banks are also constantly exploring service areas, further promoting the expansion of asset-liability business by developing financial business, and combining asset-liability business with financial services to open up new business areas. In modern economic life, financial services have become an important function of commercial banks.
Compared with commercial banks and other non-bank financial institutions, policy banks have a side of * * *. If the loan is to be strictly examined, the loan should be repaid with principal and interest and used for circulation. However, as a policy financial institution, it also has its own characteristics: first, the capital of policy banks is mostly allocated by government finance; Second, policy banks mainly consider the overall interests of the country and social benefits, not for profit, but the funds of policy banks are not financial funds. Policy banks must also consider profit and loss, adhere to the basic principles of banking operation, and strive to protect the capital and make small profits; Third, policy banks have their own specific sources of funds, mainly relying on issuing financial bonds or borrowing from the central bank, and generally do not absorb public deposits; Fourth, policy banks have specific business areas and do not compete with commercial banks.
From 65438 to 0994, China established three policy banks: China Development Bank, China Agricultural Development Bank, Export-Import Bank and China Agricultural Development Bank, all of which were directly led by the State Council.