China bad loans surging, profit growth slowing, says regulator

Beijing

BAD loans at Chinese banks rose 35.7 per cent during the first half of 2015 as economic growth remained sluggish and manufacturers struggled, the chairman of the banking sector regulator said.

Shang Fulin, chairman of China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), told an internal meeting last week that non-performing loans (NPLs) at banks rose 322.2 billion yuan (S$72 billion) in the first six months of the year to 1.8 trillion yuan, according to a transcript of the meeting seen by Reuters.