China's trust companies halt property lending

Regulators have pressured some of China’s trust firms to suspend property lending, Reuters reported. Four sources told Reuters that the China Banking Regulatory Commission instructed trust firms last week to conduct a "self-examination" of their lending practices. Now Ping An Trust, China Credit Trust and Zhongrong International Trust have either stopped or curtailed their property-related lending and investments, except for government-supported affordable housing projects. Loosely regulated trust companies have until now been a crucial source of financing for Chinese developers seeking to raise capital as the country’s banks curb their lending. Property-related investments by China’s trusts stood at 40 billion yuan (US$6 billion) in 2009 and reached 150 billion yuan (US$22.6 billion) in the first 10 months of this year.