The People’s Bank of China has unveiled a deposit protection scheme for mainland bank depositors with an RMB500,000 maximum payout, South China Morning Post reported, citing a consultation document posted on the website of the State Council’s Legislative Affairs Office. The proposed coverage ceiling would protect the deposits of 99.63% of mainland depositors, according to the PBoC, which said the mainland had RMB49.9 trillion of personal deposits and RMB53.7 trillion of corporate time and demand deposits in October. The establishment of a deposit insurance scheme is seen as a precursor to further financial reforms, including scrapping remaining controls on interest rates.