MNI BRIEF: Chinese Local Govts Offers Small Bank Further Help

China's local governments are offering tailored help to local regional banks via government deposits and good asset injections, regulators said Thursday. Guangxi's provincial government has deposited CNY11.8 at local banks which could be transferred to common shares under certain conditions, a pioneer model in China that may be copied in other provinces, according to Ren Qinghua, the head of Guangxi Banking and Insurance Regulatory Bureau, said Thursday at a press conference held by China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission.

Beijing has promised to announce more policies to help regional banks to replenish capital by June.

Guangxi's regional government injected CNY14 billion of high-quality assets in exchange for CNY16.2 billion non-performing assets of local banks, Ren noted. Local banking regulator from Shandong province, one of the country's manufacturing hubs, said at the same press conference that banks in the region will dispose of about CNY200 billion non-performing loans this year. Encouraged by regulators, China's banks disposed of more than CNY3 trillion in bad loans through 2020.