IN a move which brings China's austerity drive right to Hongkong's doorstep, the People's Bank of China has set up a special task force in Shenzhen to restore order to the Special Economic Zone's financial system.
According to the official Shenzhen Special Zone Daily, a committee, headed by the branch chief, has been set up to carry out the task.
With Shenzhen at the heart of Guangdong, the fastest growing province on the mainland and regarded by many as the most independent, the move is seen by some analysts as part of the drive by Vice-Premier Zhu Rongji to enforce his austerity drive throughout the country.
The team, which is believed to have arrived in Shenzhen, is expected to study the city's financial situation before exercising its powers.
If it decides that the financial sector is getting out of control and fuelling excessive growth it may take firm action to push it back into line.
Among the measures it could take would be: Cleaning up lending and borrowing, and recalling, within a designated period, loans which break lending rules; Strictly implementing the regulations governing banks, trusts and securities, and separating banks from their non-banking businesses; Controlling the amount of credit, cutting property lending, curbing unreasonable capital usage; Strengthening interest rate management and controlling money supply; Reinforcing the administration of foreign banks which remit money overseas for Chinese enterprises, tightening auditing, and stepping up monitoring.
Details of the measures would be released later this month, said the paper.