THE top priority this year for China's banking regulator is to ensure risk controls are strictly enforced on concerns that bad loans may rise amid sizzling credit growth in the country.
Assuring there will be no systemic risk or regional risk is the top job for the China Banking Regulatory Commission which will closely and continuously scrutinize loans in the property sector and to overcapacity industries as well as government financing platforms, it said on its website yesterday.
Banks in China extended 8.2 trillion yuan (US$1.32 trillion) of new loans in 2012, a 10 percent annual growth. However, trust loans surged 532 percent in December while bank lending tumbled 30 percent year on year, which raised worries that increasing dependence on non-bank credit may increase more risks to the financial system.
The CBRC will also target off-balance sheet financial products. Selling unauthorized products and misleading customers are strictly prohibited.
Last month, the CBRC ordered commercial banks to do internal checks of branches and employees to prevent non-permitted sales after Beijing-based Hua Xia Bank blamed an employee for selling illegal products.
China's social trust index declined further last year, according to the Annual Report on Social Mentality of China 2012