China's Ping An Insurance is in early talks to buy a stake in the biggest rural bank in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong as the country's No. 2 life insurer aims to expand its banking network, sources familiar with the situation said on Tuesday.

Senior executives of Ping An, based in the boomtown of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, approached Guangdong Rural Credit Union several months ago about a possible stake purchase, said the sources, who declined to be identified.

Representatives of Ping An and Guangdong Rural held several rounds of talks although no agreement has been reached yet, partly due to Guangdong Rural's complicated shareholding structure and its debt burden, the sources said.

Guangdong Rural could not be immediately reached for comment. Ping An declined to comment.

Ping An, in which HSBC Holdings holds about a 17 percent stake, also lobbied the Guangdong provincial government to allow it to assist Guangdong Rural with an internal restructuring, although the local government has yet to decide on Ping An's request, said the sources.

Senior officials at the China Banking Regulatory Commission in Beijing have also been informed of Ping An's interest in investing in China's rural banking sector and have indicated a positive response to its plans, the sources said.

Guangdong Rural, founded in 2005, now operates more than 6,500 outlets across the affluent Chinese province near Hong Kong, with many of its outlets located in suburban areas as well as in rural villages.

An equity stake in the bank would bolster Ping An's banking network, which comprises only three branches in Shanghai, Fuzhou and Shenzhen.

Ping An's cofounder and chairman Ma Mingzhe told Reuters last week that his company would be keen to expand into rural markets and non-insurance sectors in China although he declined to comment on any possible banking acquisitions.