More stability for China's commercial banking assets in 3Q

The quality of China's commercial banking assets has stabilized, with the nonperforming loan (NPL) ratio standing at 1.74 percent at the end of the third quarter this year, the same as the previous quarter's end.

While the NPL ratio stayed flat, the balance of nonperforming loans increased by 34.6 billion yuan ($5.21 billion) to 1.67 trillion yuan during the same period, and the balance of special-mention loans, potentially weak loans presenting an unwarranted credit risk, rose by 5.7 billion yuan to 3.42 trillion yuan, according to statistics released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission on Friday.

In the meantime, commercial banks continued to strengthen their ability to cover possible loan losses, with their NPL provision coverage ratio going up 3.22 percentage points to 180.39 percent.

Net profit growth of commercial banks also remained roughly stable, said China's top banking regulator.

Commercial banks posted a 7.4 percent cumulative net profit growth year-on-year, down by 51 basis points from the previous quarter's end, with their cumulative net profits totaling 1.43 trillion yuan as of the end of the third quarter.