Foreign news: India's 'smart city' financial hub, Chinese banks under pressure, Brit SMEs spoilt for 16 April 2015 3:44PM Banking Day staff Foreign news, Bankers will be encouraged into the first of the 100 so-called "smart cities" promised by India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a cost of up to US$1 trillion. Featuring "quality communications and infrastructure", the city is beginning to take shape outside Gandhinagar, capital of the state of Gujarat, reports Reuters. In addition to reliving pressure exerted on existing cities by India's urbanisation, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City, as it is called, will double as a financial hub, complete with tax and other breaks to lure banks, brokerages and related businesses. Chinese banks' 2014 results indicate that they are unlikely to see earnings improve this year because their asset quality is under pressure, Fitch Ratings said. Reuters reports that those Chinese banks rated by Fitch that have reported results for 2014 saw their revenue grow by 13.1 per cent. But their net profit only rose by 7.2 per cent due to higher loan provisioning. Fitch predicted a weakening in borrowers' repayment ability, a further deterioration in asset quality amid the country's economic slowdown, the pressure on banks from high leverage, and their potential exposure to liquidity conditions for the lenders' situation. Despite having upwards of 200 different deposit accounts to choose from - or maybe because of the overwhelming range of choices available - just under a third (31 per cent) of business deposit accounts are yielding effective interest rates of 0.1 per cent or less on balances of £10,000. That's according to the UK's Cambridge & Counties Bank, which has analysed British Bankers Association data for 2014. And having a bigger deposit does not guarantee you a competitive rate either because the bank estimates that some 23 per cent of business deposit accounts are paying this same low rate on balances of £1 million. State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, will be hiring around 2,400 young graduates as entry-level executives or probationary officers. The selected officers will be trained to work in personal banking, rural banking, credit, forex and treasury departments.