CRI听力:Premier Officiates First Loan Issued by China's First E-Bank

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has pledged to provide a warm environment to boost "moderate" development of private banks during a visit to Webank, the country's first Internet-based banking service, headquartered in Shenzhen.

During the visit, Premier Li officiated the final approval of the banks' first loan, a credit of 35 thousand yuan to a local truck driver.

He says that the issuance of the first loan marked a significant step forward in China's financial reform.

"I'm happy to see that the Internet's financial format is gradually taking shape. I could say that it signals a significant step in China's Internet finance and China's financial reforms at large."

The head of Webank says the new service aims at better serving the public.

"The reason why we call our service 'Webank' is because we concentrate on serving the general public and minor enterprises. We hope to operate a completely different bank, an internet platform with banking license. We hope to link our clients with the financial institutions available. We don't want to become rival of those institutions. We want to help them serve the general public better instead."

With registered capital of 3 billion yuan, Webank's largest stakeholder is Tencent Holdings Ltd, with 30 percent of the total shares.

Other major shareholders include Shenzhen Baiyeyuan Investment Co and Shenzhen Liye Group, each of which holds a 20 percent share.