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In 2023, the total assets of banks in China amounted *** trillion yuan, a *** percent increase compared to the previous year. Assets of large commercial banks accounted for almost **** percent of total banking assets which amounted to *** trillion yuan. Joint-stock commercial banks held assets valued at **** trillion yuan in 2020.

China’s banking sector

China’s multilayered banking industry was developed by large, state-owned banks. On top of the bank-hierarchy were the “Big Four” commercial banks. They included the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the China Construction Bank, the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China. In addition to those, there are also thirteen joint-stock commercial banks which include the China Merchants Bank and Bank of Communications. Their asset value was significantly smaller than the value of the “Big Four”. On a local level, over a hundred commercial banks provide financial services throughout China.

Non-performing loan issues

Since China began opening up its banking sector, international analysts had questioned the quality of loans from Chinese banks. Many accused Chinese institutions of engaging in questionable lending practices which eroded the quality of the bank’s underlying assets. Furthermore, the possibility of an industry-wide prevalence of bad loans could expose the whole industry to systematic risks. However according to official numbers, the ratio of non-performing loans was comparable to healthy European economies. Nonetheless, state regulators were aware of these issues and introduced a debt-equity swap program in 2016 where government-financed asset management companies bought up bad loans from banks.