Meanwhile, the CBIRC will hand its central bank the power to write the rules for the financial sector, as part of a sweeping overhaul aimed at closing regulatory loopholes and curbing risk in the $43 trillion banking and insurance industries.

As Bloomberg notes, a new regulatory structure with the PBOC as the pivot is emerging as the annual legislative meetings progress through their second week. Still to come (see below) are personnel appointments, including the expected anointment for Politburo member Liu He as a Vice Premier in charge of financial and economic affairs, making him President Xi Jinping's go-to official as he seeks to avert a financial crisis after years of rapid credit growth.

"The PBOC has more power: It has added the role of lawmaking to its previous role as the adviser on monetary policy," said Zhou Hao, an economist at Commerzbank AG in Singapore. "The PBOC's role will largely be policy making and the newly merged bank and insurance regulator will mainly be the policy executor. And the other thing for sure is that Liu He will play a more important role in China's reforms."