China Great Wall Asset Management Corp.,......>

CHINA: China Great Wall Asset Management Corp., one of the country's big four

state-owned asset management companies, has enhanced its purchases of both

financial and non-financial non-performing assets (NPAs) this year, Meng

Xiaodong, the deputy chief executive of the company, said at a press conference

on Thursday. In the first nine months of this year, Great Wall purchased a total

of CNY73 billion of financial NPAs, an increase of 120.17% on an annual basis,

and purchased non-financial NPAs worth CNY56.3 billion, an increase of 160.89%,

Meng noted. As China's economic structural adjustment deepens, NPA volumes are

expected to continue to expand but at a slower pace, Meng said. The debt default

risk of companies will also increase, particularly in traditional sectors

including coal and steel, Meng noted, while warning that the credit risks of

small and micro-size financial and non-financial companies are also growing as

regulations are tightened.