China’s Banking Regulator Says Bad Loans under Control Despite Coronavirus Bump, Property Financing Policy Remains Unchanged

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The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) says that the coronavirus outbreak has had a modest impact on the non-performing loans (NPL) of Chinese banks.

Xiao Yuanqi (肖远企), CBIRC’s chief risk officer, said that as of the end of February the NPL ratio of Chinese commercial banks had risen 0.05 percentage points compared to the start of the same month as a result of the impacts of the coronavirus.

Xiao made the remarks at a press conference held on 17 March.

According to Xiao most of the rise was the result of overdue payments on credit card loans or personal mortgages, and that over the next two to three months the coronavirus would continue to have an impact on asset quality.

Xiao said that the extent of the rise in NPL’s was “under control overall,” and that the impact of the novel coronavirus would be short-term, pointing to the resumption of regular work and production by the vast majority of Chinese enterprises and the adoption of offsetting macro-economic policies by Beijing.

CBIRC has also stressed that at present the overall tone of real estate financing policy remains unchanged, with municipal authorities given the latitude to make policy adjustments within their jurisdictions.

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