Foreign banks in Shanghai see sound development in first half: regulator

Foreign-funded lenders in Shanghai saw sound development in the first half of 2018, the local banking watchdog said on Monday.

Foreign banks recorded a total of 1.53 trillion yuan (US$220 billion) in assets as of the end of June, accounting for 10.2 percent of the entire local banking sector, according to the Shanghai bureau of China’s Banking Regulatory Commission.

This registered 12.6 percent in year-on-year growth, and the proportion has remained above 10 percent since last October.

The first six months saw a total of 447.3 billion yuan of outstanding loans, which rose by 5.0 percent compared with 120months prior, while outstanding deposits grew by 4.4 percent annually to reach 631 billion yuan during the same period, the regulator said.

The non-performing loan rate stood at 0.39 percent, down by 0.12 percentage points year on year.

For the second half, the regulator calls for foreign players to fully seize the opportunity of China's further opening-up and actively expand their business by mobilizing their parent banks’ resources as well as their own.

At the same time, they should also strengthen cooperation with domestic lenders to create a more open, win-win financial market environment, while lending support to the local government’s efforts to build up its “Four Brands" in services, manufacturing, shopping and culture, the watchdog said.