Shadow banking threatens China's economy, officials warn

Beijing

THE chairman of China's biggest bank and a senior Chinese insurance regulator issued strong warnings on Saturday about the dangers of shadow banking to the Chinese economy, in the latest signs of growing top-level concern here about a rise in highly speculative, poorly regulated lending.

Shadow banking, or lending that takes place outside official banking channels, plays a major role in the Chinese economy, where big government-controlled banks are often slow to lend to private businesses and entrepreneurs.