According to initial statistics from China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), by the end of 2004 the total bad loans of four state-owned commercial banks and twelve joint-equity commercial banks stood at 1717.6 billion yuan, a decrease of 394.6 billion yuan over the year beginning; the bad loan rate stood at 13.2 percent, 4.6 percent lower than the year beginning. This was the third year that both the total amount and rate of bad loans declined following 2002 and 2003.

Viewing from the bad loans structure of major commercial banks, 520.2 billion yuan fell into the category of loss, a decrease of 158.1 billion yuan from year beginning; 889.9 billion yuan were classified as doubtful, 219.1 billion yuan lower; 307.5 billion yuan were categorized as secondary, 17.5 billion yuan lower. The proportion of lost loans took for 30.3 percent of total bad loans, 1.8 percent lower than at the year beginning, indicating improvement in bad loan structure.

Viewing from institution types, by the end of 2004 state-owned commercial banks registered a total of 1575.1 billion yuan bad loans, 349.9 billion yuan lower from year beginning; their bad loan rate stood at 15.6 percent, 4.8 percent lower; the figure for joint-equity commercial banks were 142.5 billion yuan, 44.7 billion yuan lower, with the bad loan rate being 4.9 percent, 2.7 percent lower.

By People's Daily Online