China is considering allowing foreign banks to underwrite a wider range of debt on the country's interbank market, as the nation seeks to improve its financial system.

The National Association of Financial Market Institution Investors is working on a mechanism to assess the performance of underwriters. Within the mechanism, local and foreign banks will be treated equally. But it didn't say how many foreign banks would be allowed to underwrite bonds issued by non-financial institutions. China's bond sales surged to 1.96 trillion yuan last year.