China's interbank market will have one more hour of trading time from January 20th.

According to the National Interbank Lending and Borrowing Center, the interbank market will open at 9:00 a.m., half an hour earlier than before, and close at 4:30 p.m., half an hour later.

Economists say that the extra hour of trading will help financial institutions improve efficiency in capital management.

Members of the interbank market increased from 176 at the beginning of 1999 to 319 by the end of the year. Total trading volume for the year reached 732.6 billion yuan (88.3 billion US dollars.