Foreign banks report strong H1 growth

FOREIGN-FUNDED lenders in Shanghai recorded a strong performance in the first half of the year, the local banking watchdog said yesterday.

Foreign banks recorded a total of 1.53 trillion yuan (US$220 billion) in assets as of the end of June, accounting for 10.2 percent of the entire local banking sector, according to the Shanghai bureau of China’s Banking Regulatory Commission.

This was 12.6 percent in year-on-year growth, and the proportion has remained above 10 percent since last October.

The first six months saw a total of 447.3 billion yuan of outstanding loans, 5 percent higher than 12 months earlier, while outstanding deposits grew by 4.4 percent annually to reach 631 billion yuan, the regulator said.

The non-performing loan rate stood at 0.39 percent, down 0.12 percentage points year on year.

The commission urged foreign players to seize the opportunity of China’s further opening-up and expand their business in the second half by mobilizing their parent banks’ resources as well as their own.

They should also strengthen cooperation with domestic lenders to create a more open, win-win environment while supporting the local government’s efforts to build up its “four brands”: services, manufacturing, shopping and culture.