Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, September 25, 2003
Chinese banking giant speeds up recovery of bad debts
The China Construction Bank (CCB) posted a 12.11 percent non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at the end of August, 3.8 percentage points down from the beginning of this year, according to bank sources.
The China Construction Bank (CCB) posted a 12.11 percent non-performing loan (NPL) ratio at the end of August, 3.8 percentage points down from the beginning of this year, according to bank sources.
The figure was the lowest among the country's "big four" state-owned commercial banks, and the CCB is expected to cut its NPL ratio by four percentage points in 2003, the sources said.
In the January-August period, the bank disposed of various kinds of bad debts amounting to 41.2 billion yuan (4.96 billion US dollars), recovering 24.77 billion yuan (2.98 billion dollars) in assets including 21.86 billion yuan (2.63 billion dollars) in cash.
The "big four" -- the CCB, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China -- are all quickening their efforts to recover bad loans to sharpen their competitive edge in the fight for market shares with foreignbanks after China's WTO entry.
In the long run, China's state-owned commercial banks all aim to be listed on the stock market, which also demands a low NPL ratio, analysts say.
CCB authorities said that the bank will, for the rest of the year, make it a priority to dispose of large-sum bad debts and take earnest and efficient measures to reduce non-credit bad debts and recover more mortgage debt assets in cash.
As part of those efforts, in October the bank will host an Autumn fair to auction off more of its mortgage debt assets, sources said.