The wealth management business in Chinese banking "should not" be categorized as shadow banking, a senior official of China's banking regulator said on Monday.

There's been heated debate about whether banks' wealth management business should be defined as shadow banking, and foreign media have raised concerns about Chinese bank shares, the economy and government debt based on the banks' growing wealth management business, said Yan Qingmin, vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

According to a Xinhua News Agency report on Tuesday, Yan said banks' wealth management business should not be categorized as shadow banking because such activity is covered by a separate regulatory and supervisory framework, has clear legal status, presents controllable liquidity risks, provides sufficient disclosure and undertakes no involvement in high-leverage operations.