CBRC warns of soaring estate loans

With real estate loans being the fourth largest category of nonperforming loans at state-owned banks last year, soaring lending for real estate transactions are posing a serious risk for China's banks, state media reported, citing Yan Qingmin, a deputy department chief at the China Banking Regulatory Commission. Much of the total lending for real estate deals which reached US$315bn in the first quarter was tied up for long periods of time, creating limited liquidity in the country's financial system, Yan said.