Foreign banks continued to see future opportunities in the Chinese financial services market though as a whole their market share did not increase last year, showed a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Wednesday.

After speaking to 42 foreign financial institutions in China, PwC found growth prospects had so far improved for many foreign banks in 2010.

Five banks anticipated growth above 100 percent, 12 banks predicted growth between 20 percent and 40 percent year on year while 16 banks forecast 10 percent to 20 percent growth.

Only three banks predicted flat growth of 0 to 3 percent, according to the PwC survey.

Despite China's strong growth last year, foreign banks failed to gain market traction. Overall their market share remained around 2 percent, according to the survey.

Over 30 foreign banks were now locally incorporated and more banks were likely to take this option in 2010, said PwC.

Increasing competition from domestic banks, however, was identified by foreign banks as the most difficult aspect of running a bank in China.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2010)