Suning Commerce plans to set up a bank after the central government issued guidelines encouraging private capital to enter the financial industry. The Nanjing-based firm, formerly known as Suning Appliance, said it was “preparing actively to apply for establishing Suning Bank”. A Spokeswoman said the company had secured the internet domain names “suningbank” and “sunanbank” last month for future use. Beijing has been encouraging private investment to enter the financial sector in order to break the near-monopoly of state-owned lenders. Last month, the central government issued guidelines reaffirming the decision to allow private banks. Shang Fulin, Chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), said earlier that trials of privately-owned financial institutions would debut in the second half of this year. Suning, the biggest seller of electronic appliances in China and a major online retailer, has wider ambitions. Last year, it said it planned to set up a microcredit firm in Chongqing to offer loans to small and medium-sized suppliers to the online shopping portal suning.com. It is also preparing to launch an online financial platform that will allow users to buy bonds, money funds and wealth management products. Yifubao, the online payment tool used by Suning, obtained a third-party payment license from the central bank a year ago. Other private firms have also shown interest in the financial industry. A consortium of investors led by Juneyao Group is spearheading a move to set up a privately-owned bank. Juneyao, which runs airlines and dairy businesses, along with other privately-owned companies including Fosun Group and Shanda Interactive Entertainment, plans to establish a bank with an initial investment of CNY5 billion. It is still in the application process and it is unclear when the investors will receive the go-ahead from the regulator.