When Guo Suqing was parachuted into the top job at state-owned China Construction Bank in March after the former chairman left under a cloud of scandal, he was surprised to discover that the bank's board played little role in overseeing the business. Directors of the bank, China's second largest, rarely met. But the bank's Communist party committee, headed by the former chairman, convened regularly, even to vet small loans.

Mr Guo, who has held a number of senior positions in financial ministries, quickly restored the role of the board. Daringly for China, where the party still tightly controls most state-owned businesses, he has also been willing to say publicly why he pushed the Communist committee aside. "The party is not a commercial organisation," said Mr Guo in an interview. "There has been a misunderstanding of the party's role in the past, and wrong practices inside the bank as a result. That is why we are making some changes."