June 24, 2008 -- The government will encourage the set up of financial centers in mainland China according to each city's strengths and needs, the Shanghai Daily reported last month.

"We understand how some cities want to turn themselves into finance centers and we will definitely encourage them," Li Chao, spokesman for the People's Bank of China, told the local media outlet. To comply with the different financial infrastructure and characteristics of each city, the finance centers would be classified at different levels, he said.

Several giant cities in the mainland are eyeing to be financial hubs, the report said. The Beijing government, for instance, unveiled a proposal earlier this month that would build up the city as "a finance center with an international influence," Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai, which hosted its first high-level annual finance forum on May 8 and 9, is also keen on attracting more international awareness. "We'd like to borrow overseas experience and expertise to deepen the country's financial reforms," Fang Xinghai, director of the Shanghai government's financial services office, told a media briefing, according to the Shanghai Daily.

Meanwhile, Tianjin municipality is developing its Binhai New Area as a financial zone by implementing a plan to build the country's first national over-the-counter stock exchange there. Shenzhen in Guangdong Province is on track to unveil the nation's growth enterprise board. Another city in central China is also interested in setting up its own financial center, the PBoC spokesman said, based on talks with a senior official in the locality, according to Shanghai Daily.