China's trust assets shrink in second quarter

BEIJING- The assets of China's trust industry have been shrinking amid tightened financial regulation to defuse risks, data shows.

Total trust assets reached 21.28 trillion yuan ($3.12 trillion) at the end of the second quarter (Q2), down 5.56 percent year-on-year, data by the China Trustee Association showed.

The decline came amid continued government efforts to crack down on high-risk shadow banking businesses involving trust companies, which are often subject to less regulatory oversight.

By the end of Q2, outstanding investments by trust funds into industrial and commercial enterprises totaled 5.56 trillion yuan, an increase of 1.46 percent from the end of Q1, indicating more support to the real economy.