Property woes hit banks

Chinese banks may not be taking the beating that their foreign counterparts have suffered due to the US credit crisis, but their share prices have recently been falling like a stone.

Although Chinese lenders have nowhere near the same amount of risk exposure to toxic bonds, they are suffering as a result of the slump in the nation's property sector.

Shares of China Merchants Bank slumped more than 27 percent over the past month, while Industrial and Commercial Bank of China also dropped 7 percent during the same period.