The latest data from China’s banking regulator points to more than double-digit year-on-year (YoY) growth in the assets of Chinese banks as of the end of the third quarter.
As of the end of September the total domestic and foreign currency assets of Chinese banking sector financial institutions stood at 373.9 trillion yuan, for YoY growth of 10.2%, according to data released by the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) on 15 November.
Large-scale commercial banks had total domestic and foreign currency assets of 154.6 trillion yuan, for YoY growth of 12.7%, accounting for 41.3% of the total amount.
Joint-stock commercial banks had total domestic and foreign currency assets of 65.2 trillion yuan, for YoY growth of 7.2%, accounting for 17.4% of the total amount.
The total balance of loans to micro-and-small enterprises made by Chinese banks was 58 trillion yuan as of the end of the third quarter. This included 22.9 trillion yuan in financial inclusion loans of under 10 million yuan to micro-and-small enterprises, for YoY growth of 24.1%.
CBIRC said that asset quality of Chinese commercial banks has held steady overall, with the non-performing loan (NPL) balance standing at 3 trillion yuan as of the end of the third quarter, for an increase of 37.3 billion yuan as of the end of the preceding quarter. The commercial bank NPL ratio stood at 1.66%, for a decline of 0.01 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter.
Net profits of commercial banks were 1.7 trillion yuan for the first three quarters of 2022, for YoY growth of 1.2%, and an average return on equity ratio of 9.32%, for a decline of 0.78 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter.
The average return on assets ratio was 0.75%, for a decline of 0.06 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter.
The commercial bank loan loss provisions balance was 6.1 trillion yuan as of the end of the third quarter, for an increase of 128.5 billion yuan compared to the end of the preceding quarter. The provisions coverage ratio was 205.54%, for an increase of 1.75 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter.
As of the end of the third quarter the capital adequacy ratio of Chinese banks (not including foreign bank branches) was 15.09%, for an increase of 0.21 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter.
The tier-1 capital ratio was 12.21%, for a rise of 0.13 percentage points, while the core tier-1 capital ratio was 10.64%, for a rise of 0.12 percentage points.
The commercial bank liquidity coverage ratio stood at 142.68% as of the end of the third quarter, for a decline of 3.62 percentage points compared to the end of the preceding quarter. The liquidity ratio was 61.66%, for a decline of 0.61 percentage points over the quarter.
The deposit-loan ratio for Chinese commercial banks stood at 78.65% as of the end of the third quarter, for a rise of 0.21 percentage points over the quarter.
