Tianjin bankers threatened with sack if they don’t back local government’s stability measures

Bankers in Tianjin, a former economic hub half an hour’s train ride away from Beijing, will be terminated if they don’t qualify on political grounds, according to a speech by local party secretary Li Hongzhong published by the Communist Party’s discipline authority on Wednesday.

In the unusually strong-worded speech, Li recently told the city’s top bankers they would be dismissed – “like being stabbed in the neck” – reflecting the local government’s opposition to risk control measures taken by the lenders.

Economic growth in the city has fallen to the lowest in China since 2017, and it has the highest debt to income ratio, of 423.7 per cent, according to rating agency S&P.

“The [Communist] Party’s committee and the municipal government have been gathering all the power and resources to maintain financial stability … but some cadres in the financial sector have totally forgotten what it is to be a Communist Party member, and failed to think in big picture terms,” Li said during a meeting with eight local financial institutions, including the Bank of Tianjin, Tianjin Rural Commercial Bank, Bohai Bank and Northern International Trust.

Industry observers said Li’s remarks were related to banks’ risk control measures.