Chinese banks have reported only the smallest of increases in loan defaults, but signs of trouble are starting to bubble up from beneath the placid surface of their public disclosures – prompting a warning from a top rating agency.
At first glance, Chinese banks appear to be in excellent health. With new loans growing much faster than defaults, the non-performing loan ratio for the sector as a whole edged down to 0.9 per cent in the second quarter – the lowest in more than a decade, according to the banking regulator. But investors and analysts have taken a much dimmer view of their first-half results in recent weeks.
Bank of Chinawas the first of the big banks to report, and it set the tone.