HANGZHOU, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- China's first rural joint venture bank has opened its doors in the port city of Ningbo in east China's Zhejiang province, local authorities said Monday.

The BOC Fullerton bank was jointly established by the Bank of China and Fullerton Financial Holdings, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Temasek Holdings.

The bank will focus on serving small- and medium-sized enterprises, as well as handle customs-related transactions, local authorities said.

China established 786 new rural financial institutions by the end of 2011, including 726 banks, 10 credit companies and 50 mutual fund cooperatives, according to data from the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).