Here are some facts I took back from Harvard China Forum 2011.
In China, there are:
1) 5 state owned giant banks
2) 120 province and city level banks
3) 3,000 rural credit cooperatives
90% bank income is from interest difference between saving and loan, 10% is non-interest income, e.g.: transaction fee. Most of banking business is done by state owned bank.
China Merchant Bank is the most successful private bank in China. I am very excited to know the strategy of this bank is: a little bit earlier, a little bit faster, and a little bit better (早一点，快一点，好一点). Who ever crafted it, I think, is wise. 
It’s remarkable similar to the strategy I gave to Ford Motor in a finance case in Babson. My strategy is – build better cars. The “better” here means better than your competitors’, not yours. The reason is simple, in an oligopoly market, which is true for cars in US and banking in China, it doesn’t matter what you do, it only matters how much you do better than your competitors.
So don’t talk about making green cars, making small cars, or making smart cars, because oligopoly market will render what you do irrelevant. It’s how much you do better really matters. It’s on a higher level of abstraction. Only wise mind can recognize that. If you want to learn more about how to win in this market, read the Only The Paranoid Survive by Andrew S. Grove. He knows, since it’s where he is from.
Shenxin (Nicolas) Xu 