‘Bank regulations gain traction’

BEIJING: China´s recent steps to control financial risks have gained traction as some riskier businesses carried out by banks have been contained, a senior banking regulator said on Thursday.

"Implementation of supervisory policies and measures has been steady and orderly, and has produced some positive results," Liu Zhiqing, deputy director general of the China Banking Regulatory Commission´s prudential regulation bureau, told reporters.

Liu said there has been a drop in banks´ riskier businesses, including their wealth management products, interbank certificates of deposit and entrusted loans.

Combined trust loans, entrusted loans and undiscounted banker´s acceptances, which are common forms of shadow banking activity, fell sharply to 28.9 billion yuan ($4.23 billion) in May from 177 billion yuan in April, according to Reuters calculations based on central bank dataLiu´s comments come at a time that some investors are worried about the impact of China´s policy tightening and tighter regulations on banks to force them to deleverage.

The CBRC has been implementing its regulations in a "planned and step-by-step" manner to help banks to contain risks while keeping up support for the real economy, Liu said.

Borrowing costs for companies may rise eventually if liquidity conditions in financial markets continue to tighten, Liu said, adding that regulators will try to keep borrowing costs at reasonable levels.

The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio for all Chinese banks stood at 1.99 percent at the end of May, down 0.16 percentage points from a year earlier, Liu said.

The ratio covers all Chinese banks, including policy lenders. The more commonly reported NPL ratio for commercial banks was 1.74 percent at the end of March, unchanged from the end of 2016.Liu also said small and medium-sized banks needed to strengthen their liquidity and interest rate management.