China's banking sector has not..........>

CHINA PRESS: China's banking sector has not changed its hawkish stance toward

the real estate sector even though some local banks and administrations have

lowered down payment ratios and interest rates on home loans, according to

Securities Times. Citing Xiao Yuanqi, the spokesman for the China Banking and

Insurance Regulatory Commission, the newspaper reported that those adjustments

are still in line with the general regulations of the central government. Xiao

said bank profits in China will increase at the same rate as last year despite

the negative impact of the epidemic. The non-performing loans (NPL) ratio

increased 5 bps in February and will continue to rise over the following months,

but this will be controllable as the system has CNY6 trillion in provisions

covering NPL's of CNY3 trillion, Xiao said.