In a little-noticed comment during the weekend's meetings, Yi Gang, a deputy governor of China's central bank and head of the country's foreign-exchange reserves, said that China aimed to bring its current-account surplus below 4% of GDP within 3-5 years.

ECONOMIST: Currency wars

Bank of China is the country's biggest bank for foreign exchange transactions, so the account closure could hurt the North Korean institution.

CNN: China reduces banking lifeline to N Korea

Then last month the chief of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, a division of the central bank, removed any ambiguity when he stated that China would make the renminbi convertible on the capital account in five years.

FORBES: The Final Liberalization of the Renminbi

The Bank of China is listed on the Hong Kong exchange, where it trades at the very fancy multiple of 25 times trailing net income.

FORBES: Broken China

Bank of China, the country's biggest foreign-exchange lender, which hopes to follow in 2005, could be even bigger.

ECONOMIST: A $45 billion shot in the arm

Bank of China, the country's largest foreign-exchange bank, said that its net profit climbed 12% on-year in 2012, higher than analyst expectations. 2012 net profit at Agricultural Bank of China, China's largest rural lender by assets, came out a touch lower than expectations.

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