Beijing: China will set up five private banks on a trial basis before the practice is extended to more places, the chief of the country's banking regulator said today.

The first batch of the five banks will be in Tianjin, Shanghai, Zhejiang Province and Guangdong Province, Shang Fulin, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session.