China begins reigning in banking risks

A slew of policies and tightened oversight appear to have reined in risks of the banking sector, China’s banking regulator said. Caixin reports that in the three months ended June 30, interbank transactions – mostly bills and short-term loans – fell from a year ago for the first time in seven years. As of the end of June, commercial banks’ interbank assets and liabilities both fell by 1.8 trillion yuan ($269.784 billion) from the beginning of the year, seeing growth drop by 5.6 percentage points and 2.3 percentage points respectively. Outstanding wealth management products fell to 28.4 trillion yuan by the end of June from 29.05 trillion yuan at the start of the year, according to official data. Off-balance sheet entrusted loans, in which a bank acts as an agent to facilitate a loan between two businesses, fell for the first time in nine years in April, when they totaled 13.82 trillion yuan.