Risks in China's banking sector down in Q3

BEIJING - Risks in China's banking sector continued to be dissolved in the third quarter of the year, with falling interbank business and slower growth in wealth management products (WMPs).

By the end of September, interbank assets and liabilities, major indicators for shadow-banking activities, went down 2.6 trillion yuan ($400 billion) and 2 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year, respectively, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said Saturday in a statement.

The growth in the value of WMPs has seen eight consecutive months of slowdown to retreat to 4 percent, down 30 percentage points from a year ago. Outstanding WMPs shrank by 2.6 trillion yuan from the beginning of the year.

The figures came after a regulatory campaign against irregularities in the financial market this year.

"The trend of capital flowing out of the real economy was curbed, and the risk posed by shadow-banking sector was reduced," the CBRC said.

The banking regulator also cited the falling bad loan ratio, sufficient core capital and stable liquidity.

At the end of September, banks had made 13.2 percent more loans than a year ago, with money-starved manufacturing and small businesses especially favored, the statement showed.