Bad loans in China’s banking system mount, rise 3.6 per cent in second quarter
- Chinese banks’ total non-performing loans increased to 2.235 trillion yuan in the three months to June
Chinese banks have reported an increase in bad debts and a decline in capital adequacy ratio in the second quarter, as the year-long trade war has hit the country’s economy hard.
Total non-performing loans in the mainland’s banking system rose to 2.235 trillion yuan (US$316.6 billion) during the three months to June, up 78.1 billion yuan, or 3.6 per cent from the first quarter of this year. The non-performing loan ratio edged up by a marginal 0.01 percentage points to 1.81 per cent during the quarter, according to data posted on the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission’s (CBIRC) website on Monday night.
Provision for loan losses rose to 4.26 trillion yuan at the end of June, up 3 per cent from the end of March.
“The increase in loan provisions for the second quarter is not surprising given the dire need of small and medium-sized companies in mainland China to raise capital,” said Louis Tse Ming-kwong, managing director of VC Asset Management.
“The bad-debt ratio increase and decrease in capital adequacy ratio were within market expectation.”