中国金融体制的改革目标是建立符合中国特色社会主义市场经济的现代金融体系、现代金融制度和良好的金融秩序。这包括有计划分步骤地进行中国人民银行管理体制和国有商业银行、中国人民保险（集团）公司的商业化改革；发展城市商业银行等地方性金融机构，建立健全多类型、多层次的金融机构体系；按金融企业的基本属性建立各项经营管理制度，要求所有金融企业依法自主经营，严禁任何部门和个人干预金融企业的业务，同时要求金融业承担经营责任风险；进一步完善金融法律体系，依法整顿和规范金融秩序；切实加强金融机构内部自律控制机制；建立市场经济条件下的金融监管制度，在国有全国性金融业成立监事会等等。

The reform of China’s financial system aims at establishing a modern financial system with a sound financial order, a system that agrees with a Chinese-type socialist¹ market economy. Efforts will be made to reform the management system of the People’s Bank of China and turn state-owned commercial banks and the People’s Insurance Co. of China into full-fledged commercial entities² in a planned and step-by-step manner, develop urban commercial banks and other local financial institutions, and establish a financial system composed of diversified³, multi-level financial institutions. Management systems will be established in accordance with the basic attribution of various financial enterprises, and all financial institutions should operate independently according to law. Neither institution nor individual is allowed to interfere⁴ with normal business operations of financial institutions. Financial institutions should be accountable for their own risks, further improve the financial legal system, rectify⁵ and standardize⁶ financial order in accordance with law, and strengthen the construction of internal control systems. It is also imperative⁷ to establish a financial supervision⁸ system under the conditions of a market economy, and supervisory boards will be set up in all state-owned national financial institutions.

建立现代金融制度，其中很重要的是要创造条件，按国际清算银行确定的原则对银行进行管理，对其业务实行资产负债比例管理和风险管理。这些改革措施正在逐步加以落实。金融制度改革的目标是经过几年的努力，使国有商业银行的管理水平达到国际上比较先进的商业银行的管理水平。在中央银行机构改革方面，将在今后几年内建立若干个跨省、自治区、直辖市的一级分行，地区行和县行基本保留，但要转换职能。这一改革将影响中国金融业20年甚至30年。

In the effort to establish a modern financial system, an important task is to create conditions for exercising management over the banks’ liability rate on assets and to ensure their capability⁹ of preventing financial risks in accordance with the principles set by international clearing banks. These reform measures are being actualized in a step-by-step manner. The goal for the financial reform is that with several years of efforts the management level of state-owned commercial banks witll be raised to that of fairly advanced commercial banks in the world. With regard to the central bank’s restructuring, a number of cross-provincial, cross-autonomous regional and cross-municipal first-level branch banks will be established in the next few years. Prefectural and county banks will be kept principally, but their functions will be shifted. This reform will exert influence on China’s financial sector¹⁰ for as long as 20, or even 30, years.