China's bank assets surge

Assets of China's banking institutions surged 9.5 percent year-on-year to reach 409.8 trillion yuan ($56.01 trillion) as of the end of September, the National Financial Regulatory Administration said on Friday.

New renminbi-denominated loans rose by 19.75 trillion yuan in the first nine months, up 1.58 trillion yuan from the same period last year.

Net profits of commercial banks over the first three quarters reached 1.9 trillion yuan, up 1.6 percent year-on-year, while the provision coverage ratio - loan loss reserves compared with bad loans - came in at a relatively high level of 207.9 percent.

As of the end of September, non-performing loans stood at 4 trillion yuan, up by 183.2 billion yuan from the start of the year. The ratio of non-performing loans thus was 1.65 percent as of that time.

Loans to real estate developers increased 2.4 trillion yuan over the first nine months. Outstanding loans with extensions to developers rose by 183 percent year-on-year at the end of September.

Inclusive loans to small and micro-sized businesses increased by 4.8 trillion yuan during the period, up by 975.4 billion yuan from the same period a year earlier.

Loans to private enterprises increased by 6.7 trillion yuan, up by 683.6 billion yuan from a year ago.

Moreover, the average interest rate of inclusive loans to small and micro-sized businesses declined 0.47 percentage points from a year ago, while the average loan rate for private enterprises decreased 0.32 percentage points.

As for foreign banks, an official with the administration said at a news conference held on Friday that they had noticed that some foreign banks have adjusted their facilities and businesses in China, and believed such adjustments were made by foreign banks out of commercial considerations in response to the combined influence of the pandemic and uncertainties in global economic growth.

Such phenomenon will not develop into a trend or reflect the long-term outlook, and many foreign financial institutions have been increasing investments in China, the official said, adding from 2020 to the end of September, foreign banks in China had increased their capital by 18.73 billion yuan.