China's top regulator warns of rising bad loans, credit risk: sources

Shanghai

CHINA'S top banking regulator have warned of rising credit risk from real estate, local government debt and unconventional forms of finance, sources with direct knowledge told Reuters, highlighting Beijing's struggles to prevent risky debt from engulfing a stuttering economy.

The sources cited a speech given by Shang Fulin, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), during a teleconference in early May. The amount of non-performing loans in the first quarter has already reached 56 per cent of the total amount last year, Mr Shang said, according to the sources.