No timetable to raise bank ownership caps

China is moving in the direction of raising its caps on foreign ownership in banks but has no timetable for doing so, Liu Mingkang, head of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said on Thursday.

"It takes time, but it's the orientation -- we are moving forward," Liu told reporters after meeting with U.S. lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Asked whether he knew when the caps, currently set at 25 percent, would be lifted, Liu replied: "There is no timetable."

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has been pushing hard in an effort to get China to raise the caps and improve the access U.S. firms have to China's financial sector.

China's central bank governor, Zhou Xiaochuan, also said China needed to further assess the economic situation before deciding on more monetary tightening measures.

"We already have some tightening policies, so we are not hurrying to make any further -- it takes time to look at the feedback," Zhou said.

Liu and Zhou were part of a top-level Chinese delegation in Washington for two days of talks with Bush administration officials hosted by Paulson, as well as meetings with legislators upset over the huge U.S. trade deficit with China.