抄録
An unstable world economic situation continues in the aftermath of the Lehman Shock, and major European and American banks are exposed to severe financial conditions. However, in China, which is maintaining rapid economic growth, the activities of domestic banks, particularly the four state-owned banks (SOBs), are noteworthy. In terms of scale, each SOB is a giant in China’s banking industry. Overthrowing state bank market control and accepting the entry of private capital were the most critical elements of the economic reform that started in the beginning of the 1980s, which sought to promote bank competition. However, the Chinese government, which forced the SOBs to become joint-stock companies, may also change existing policies to protect domestic banks since its joining of the World Trade Organization (WTO). This national protection may be
the reason behind SOB growth. Because of such protective policies, foreign banks entering China might have been unable to compete within the banking industry. To verify this, we need to measure the degree of market competition within the Chinese banking industry. This study attempts to do that by using two techniques, the“ non-structural approach” and the “structural approach”, both of which have been widely used in earlier research. From the results, it is hard to say that the degree of competition improved since the joint-stock reform of the SOBs in the period 2003 to 2010, and it is clear that banks in China operate under a monopolistic or oligopolistic system of competition.
