Chinese banks clean up

摘要

Chinese banks appear to be cleaning up their act as a recent surge in new loans suggests that lenders are bringing existing debt onto their balance sheets rather than necessarily adding new debt, according to analysts in the country. New Chinese loans in the first quarter grew 9.6% year-on-year to Rmb3.01trn (US$482.3bn). This is the highest number since the first quarter of 2009, when new loans totalled Rmb4.58trn, according to the People's Bank of China. Analysts, however, say that a good chunk of the new lending is actually a result of a reduction of interbank assets in anticipation of tighter regulation. Many of those interbank assets are essentially loans to corporate borrowers either through trusts or other arrangements that are not classified as loans. Banks can reduce interbank assets by bringing some of those assets onto their loan books.