China’s crackdown on risky shadow banking activities appears to be gaining traction, with new data showing the sector has shrunk to its smallest level since the end of 2016, but priorities have shifted to maintaining economic growth.
In 2018, shadow banking assets fell by Rmb4.3tn ($640.6bn) to Rmb61.3tn, equating to 68 per cent of GDP, according to data from Moody’s. This is down from a peak of 87 per cent of GDP reached at the end of 2016, when a regulatory crackdown intensified.
Borrowers in the non-bank lending sector tend to be small businesses, individuals without credit cards and larger companies that have exhausted credit lines at state-owned banks.