The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) has hailed the success of efforts to increase the financial sector’s support for the real economy.
The first quarter saw Chinese banking and insurance sector financial institutions channel a total of 10.2 trillion yuan in new funds to the real economy via loans, bonds, insurance funds, trusts and wealth management products, according to figures released by CBIRC at a press conference held on 13 May.
As of the end of the first quarter banking and insurance financial institutions in China held total assets of 383.6 trillion yuan. Banking sector financial institutions had 357.9 trillion yuan in assets, for a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 8.6%, while insurance companies had 25.7 trillion yuan in assets, for a YoY rise of 10.3%.
CBIRC highlighted a close relationship between levels of profit in the banking and growth in the real economy since the onset of the Covid pandemic.
In the first quarter the net profits of Chinese banking sector financial institutions saw YoY growth of 4.6%, almost commensurate with the 4.8% growth in China’s GDP for the same period.
