Top Chinese Bank Reports Growing Housing LoansThe Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), the country's largest commercial bank, announced Thursday that its housing loans topped 92.5 billion yuan by the end of September, up 36.8 billion yuan over the same period of last year.Housing loans to individuals reached 60 billion yuan, up 25.3 billion yuan over the same period of last year. Such loans grew most rapidly in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. ICBC promoted several new business options, including homeowner loans to individuals for down payments and decorating, which were supposed to stimulate the individual housing loan credit, said a bank official. The bank also publicized text of the new contract for individual housing loans, which simplified the process for individuals to apply loans. The official also noted that ICBC will launch several new measures to regulate the individual housing loan business late this year. |
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