China banks' regulator probes shadow banking woe

Outstanding assets of shadow banking in China reached $4.3t in December.

China's banking regulator Guo Shuqing vows to continue to "dismantle" shadow banks in a statement reported by Bloomberg. To succeed, he needs a better year than last year.

According to Bloomberg Economics, the combined outstanding stock of shadow bank assets categories, trust lending, entrusted loans and banks’ acceptances, surged by $555b (3.57 trillion yuan) in 2017, whilst the outstanding assets of shadow banking reached $4.3t (27.8 trillion yuan) in December.

"Private companies became more reliant on shadow banks for refinancing last year amid a slowdown in overall credit supply," said Bloomberg Economics' China economist Fielding Chen. "Officials will focus on deleveraging in the real economy in 2018. That said, cracking down on the traditional shadow banking will be a focus, resulting in slower growth of the sector."