BoC's chairman and party secretary, Xiao Gang, called on the “whole bank to swiftly leap into action, unify thinking around the central leadership's analysis, opinion and decisions, wholeheartedly support the expansion of domestic demand and search for development opportunities in the midst of the crisis”.
As Chinese growth crumbles, BoC and state-owned peers, like Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of Communications, are being called on to resume their traditional role as lenders to government-supported projects.
Almost all of China's largest state-owned banks have sold shares to foreign strategic investors and listed on stock markets in Hong Kong and Shanghai.