HSBChasgotthenodfromChina'sbankingregulatortosetupavillagebankinthecentralprovinceofHubei,becomingthefirstforeignbanktoexpanditsbusinessinthecountry'svastruralareas,HSBCannouncedonThursday. 　　ThevillagebankwillbeopenedinZengduDistrictwithapopulationof2millioninSuizhouofHubeiProvinceattheendof2007andisexpectedtoemploy25people. 　　"Thenewbankwillprovidefinancialservicetailoredtoruralcommunitiesandlocalenterprises,"saidVincentCheng,chairmanoftheHSBCBank(China)CompanyLtd. 　　Chinesefarmersandruralenterprisescurrentlyhavefewplacestogetfundsfortheirbusinesses.OfficialfiguresshowChinesefarmersrarelyobtainloansofmorethan5,000yuan. 　　OnMonday,theChinaBankingRegulatoryCommission(CBRC)vowedtohelpmorebankinginstitutionstoextendserviceintheruralareasasawaytoupgradethecountry'sunder-developedruralbankingsector. 　　Attheendof2006,theCBRCscrappedworkingcapitallimitsfordomesticfinancialinstitutionsinruralareassothatbankingnetworkscouldbedevelopedinthecountryside. 　　Italsoloweredtheregisteredcapitalthresholdto3millionyuan(385,000U.S.dollars)forbanksincountiesand1millionyuaninvillagesandtowns. 　　TheCBRChasapprovedsixpilotschemesinsixprovincesincludingQinghaiandGansu.Twoofthem--HuiminvillagebankandHuiminfinancecompany--beganoperationslastThursdayinYilongcountyofsouthwestChina'sSichuanProvince. 　　HSBChasdevelopedfinancialbusinessinruralareasinBrazil,India,Indonesia,PhilippineandMexico.(Xinhua)