With the economic reform in the late 1970s, it has been an objective of government policy for Chinese banks to move away from their traditional passive role of executing directives adapted to the active role in resource allocation of banks in a market economy. However, owing to unclear ownership structures and a history of support of regional and industrial policy, most Chinese banks have had difficulty making the transition. This is particularly true for the four large state-owned commercial banks (SOCBs). In 1998-99, a significant effort to strengthen SOCB balance sheets was undertaken, but the results were disappointing. In the most recent phase of the reform, which began in 2003, the authorities concluded that >further attempts at rehabilitation of the SOCBs had to address the issue of bank governance......