Foreign banks got what they expected from Beijing - a full opening of banking to foreign participation within five years of accession to the World Trade Organisation.
The opening of the retail market to foreign banks will be phased in - starting with the local currency business opened to Chinese companies two years after accession, and to retail customers three years later.
United States Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky said geographic and customer-based restrictions would be lifted so foreign banks would enjoy the same treatment as domestic banks.
Further opening of the country's banking and financial services sector has been one of the sticking points in the negotiations, and the concessions were what foreign bankers had expected.
They were similar to what Premier Zhu Rongji reportedly offered to the US during his recent North American trip.
So far, the country has allowed some foreign banks in Shanghai and Shenzhen - including Standard Chartered Bank, Citibank and HSBC - to do limited yuan business with foreign customers in a few provinces.
But many want to do full retail banking - a move vigorously opposed by domestic banks, which have now lost the battle.
