Reforms of the Agricultural Bank of China

This paper investigates the evolution of the ABC, from its reestablishment in 1979 as a state bank to the announcement of shareholding reform toward the end of 2008. The ambivalence of the government in reforming the ABC and the limitations of the reforms are studied. The concluding analysis examines the meanings and implications of the reforms and discusses how the ABC has been finding ways, by means of local experiments, to reconcile policy and commercial objectives.