Earlier this year, Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase chief executive, warned that breaking up the bank would leave room for a Chinese institution to replace it. On measures other than size (ICBC already has a market capitalisation on a par¹ with Wells Fargo, the largest US bank) this might seem far-fetched: how could a state-owned entity² hope to replace the profit-driven bastions of free market enterprise?

今年早些时候，摩根大通(JPMorgan Chase)首席执行官杰米•戴蒙(Jamie Dimon)警告称，拆分摩根大通会给中国的银行取而代之留下可趁之机。在除规模以外的衡量标准上（中国工商银行(ICBC)的市值已经与美国最大银行富国银行(Wells Fargo)持平），这一论断似乎有些牵强：一个国有实体怎么可能取代受利润驱动的堡垒般的自由市场企业？

Chinese policy should provide support. China is targeting overseas expansion. The “Going Out” policy, which since 1999 has encouraged companies to make foreign investments, has recently been joined by the New Silk Road initiative. Designed to stimulate³ trade and investment with Asian neighbours, this should lead to large regional infrastructure⁴ projects backed by China’s state-controlled banks.

中国的政策能提供支持。中国正着眼于海外扩张。自1999年以来，“走出去”政策鼓励中国企业进行海外投资，最近又加上了“新丝绸之路”计划。该计划旨在刺激中国与亚洲邻国的贸易和投资，应该会带来多个得到中国国有银行支持的大型地区性基建项目。

The government is pushing its currency overseas, too. Last year, all four of the big Chinese banks (ICBC, Bank of China, Agricultural Bank and China Construction Bank) increased the volume of cross-border renminbi transactions. Bank of China, China’s most global bank, grew its cross-border RMB settlements by a third to $850bn (this compares with the bank’s total international settlements of $3.9tn).

中国政府还在把人民币推向海外。去年，中国四大银行（工行、中国银行(BoC)，中国农业银行(ABC)和中国建设银行(CCB)）的跨境人民币交易量增加。中国全球化程度最高的中国银行，人民币跨境结算额增长了三分之一，至8500亿美元（该行的国际结算总额为3.9万亿美元）。

Meanwhile, back home, market forces are becoming more significant. Over the past year, China has taken steps towards freeing up interest rates from state control. The latest, after the market close on Tuesday, was to introduce deposit insurance — a measure that could allow struggling banks to go bust⁵ without hurting individual savers. The government is also keen for banks to shift their domestic loan exposure from large companies and fixed-asset investment to small companies and the tech sector⁶. Competition from companies including Alibaba and Tencent has been brought in to kick-start the process. The big four have dutifully emphasised their efforts to support the new economic priorities.

同时，在中国国内，市场的力量也变得更加显著。在过去的一年中，中国已采取措施从国家管控中放开利率。周二股市收盘后公布的最新举措是引入存款保险制度——该制度让陷入困境的银行可以破产，而不会损害个人储户的利益。政府还热切希望银行将国内贷款敞口从大公司和固定资产投资转向小公司和科技行业。来自阿里巴巴(Alibaba)和腾讯(Tencent)等公司的竞争被引入，以让这一进程迅速启动。四大行则尽职尽责地加强努力，支持新的经济优先事项。

But American banks need not worry yet. China’s financial universe is changing but perhaps Chinese banks are not: much of this still smacks⁷ of national service.

但美国的银行还无需忧心。中国的金融大环境正在改变，但中国的银行或许并非如此：大多数中国的银行依然带有国民服务的味道。