Drafts of three banking laws had been reviewed at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, or parliament, this week and lawmakers were ready to give approval, it said Wednesday.

Among the expected changes was the likely establishment of a cabinet level body to coordinate financial regulators, including the China Banking Regulatory Committee and the China Securities Regulatory Commission, it said.

The third review of the draft laws comes as the banking regulator pushes for further reform of the nation's debt-laden state banks, some of which are seeking listings potentially overseas in the coming years.

Reform of China's banking system, considered technically insolvent by some western analysts looking at frightening levels of bad loans on banks' books, is seen crucial to maintaining growth in the world's fastest growing major economy.

Proposed amendments to the Law on Commercial banks would allow commercial banks to conduct non-banking business, Xinhua said without giving details.

Legislators have also discussed potential changes to the nine-year-old Law on Foreign Trade so that China could better comply with commitments made when it joined the World Trade Organisation in late 2001, the China Daily said on Thursday.

A fresh foreign trade law would spell out what constituted discrimination against Chinese exporters and allow domestic firms to resort to the world trade body to solve trade disputes, it said.