[JURIST] The National People's Congress of China [official website] Tuesday approved an amendment [press release] to the country's banking laws [text] which was written to combat corruption as global competition with the Chinese banking sector continues to increase. The amendment will make it easier for banking supervisory organizations to uncover illegalities in the banking sector by opening up investigations to include not only financial institutions, but also non-financial institutions and individuals with ties to financial bodies.

China [JURIST news archive] has seen a rise in fraudulent activities in the banking sector since e-banking and increased bank reforms have been introduced in the country. In 2005, over 450 incidents of bank fraud were uncovered, totaling more than more than one million yuan ($125,000). Legislators hope the new amendment will combat banking fraud as the Chinese banking sector is completely opened to the global economy at the end of 2006. AFP has more. China Daily has local coverage.