(China) – The ratio of non-performing loans at China’s Big Four state owned banks is being steadily reduced, according to central bank governor Dai Xianglong.”The non-performing loan ratio was at 24.5 percent in April and it fell to 23 percent in August, but only a portion of this needs to be written off,” Dai told Polish officials while on a visit to Warsaw.
The Big Four – the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and the Agricultural Bank of China – have cut their NPLs by US$7.2 billion in the first six months of this year, according to other official Chinese reports.
China set up asset management companies (AMC’s) in 1999 to take over US$170 billion in bad loans from the banks, but fears are now held for the AMC’s financial health.