China Emerges as World’s Biggest Supplier of Green Loans in 2020

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Figures from the Chinese government indicate that China was the world’s biggest green lender in 2020.

As of the end of 2020 China’s green lending balance was nearly 12 trillion yuan (approx. USD$1.86 trillion), making it the largest in the world, according to figures released by the Chinese government on 9 February.

Peng Lifeng (彭立峰), vice-head of the financial markets department of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), said that the non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of China’s green loans was 1.6 percentage points lower than that for banking sector loans as of the end of 2020, and had remained under 0.5% for three consecutive quarters.

Outstanding green bonds in China totalled 813.2 billion yuan (approx. USD$126.31 billion) as of the end of 2020 putting it in second place globally.

China claims to be the only country that has established its own “green finance reform innovation trials,” and as of 2020 had launched 9 trials in six provinces. The green loan balance of these trials was 236.83 billion yuan, accounting for 15% of the total.