China to Tackle Fin'l Risks in H2, Herald Says

China's regulatory priorities in H2 are to prevent and resolve financial risks and push to open up the finance industry, the 21st Century Business Herald reported citing recent meetings of several ministries and commissions. Banking and securities regulators aim to optimize financial governance systems, including action on banking risks, illegitimate property loans, off-site financing and bond defaults, the Herald said. China should "stay before the curve" and proactively deal with risks from shadow banking and bad loans, since bad loans have been on a slight rebound and are likely to increase further in the upcoming quarters, the newspaper said citing analyst Ming Ming of Citic Securities. The abrupt increase in leverage ratios is also of concern and China is taking action such as equity finance and pushing for the public offering of infrastructure programs, the Herald said citing Wu Yaping, a director from the Investment Research Institute of NDRC.