China’s big state-owned banks are playing a leading role in efforts to expand the scale of green financing in the country.
The big six state-owned banks had a total green loan balance of 8.6792.07 trillion yuan as of the end of 2021, based on the latest round of annual reports released by the Chinese banking sector.
This means they account for well over half of China’s national green loan balance, which saw 33% growth in 2021 to reach 15.9 trillion yuan at the end of the year, according to data from the Chinese central bank. Official data points to China’s banking sector currently being the world’s biggest green lender.
The big six state-owned banks in China have also made a total of 166.439 billion yuan in carbon emissions mitigation loans, accounting for 76.38% of all such lending made by the Chinese banking sector.
In 2020 China set the ambitious targets of achieving peak carbon by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060. The Chinese central bank subsequently launched a concerted drive to expand green finance in China in 2021.
