In the first half of 2009, the four largest state-owned commercial banks, including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China and China Construction Bank, made new loans totaling 3.2 trillion yuan, accounting for 43 percent of the 7.37 trillion new loans made in the first half. This represents a decline from the first quarter of 2009 where new loans made by the largest four banks made up 50.5 percent of all new loans.
Analysts point out that this indicates that compared to small and mid-sized banks, the pace of issuing new loans by large banks has started to slow down.
In the first half of 2009, the Bank of China made new loans totaling 901.9 billion yuan, ranking first among the four banks. Loans by ICBC increased to 825.5 billion yuan, an increase of 19.3 percent. Incremental loans hit a record high for the same period in this bank's history.
The Agricultural Bank of China made new reminbi and foreign currency loans totaling 858.9 billion yuan, an increase of 639.6 billion yuan compared to the same period last year. Excluding foreign currency loans, incremental loans in Renminbi were over 800 billion yuan. In the first half, China Construction Bank made new loans of slightly over 700 billion yuan.
When asked about their loan strategy for the second half of 2009, the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China stated that they would continue to speed up business development. ICBC stressed that they would "properly handle the relationship between promoting economic development by issuing loans and controlling credit risks."
An official at ICBC said on July 27, that following the stabilization of the Chinese economy in the second quarter, ICBC has started to adjust the progress of credit offerings, focusing on strict and careful offerings in order to protect steady credit growth and prevent large ups and downs.
By People's Daily Online
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