From 1948 to 1978, the PBC was China’s only public bank, and also served as the central bank. The PBC controlled the issuance of the Chinese currency and was the sole supervisor of financial institutions.iv Under Deng Xiaoping, gradual steps were taken to change the banking system. In 1982, the state-owned Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) was spun off from the PBC and operated with commercial banking functions. Later, the government created the Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and the Agricultural Bank of China. These state-owned banks, commonly referred to as the “big four,” continue to dominate the financial sector. One news report in 2011 estimated that they accounted for 35-40% of total loans and a larger share of deposits.v But, because of Deng’s initiatives, state owned enterprises (SOEs) were allowed to gradually diversify their financing sources and become less dependent on the “big four.”