IN BRIEF (Page 14)

NPL ratio drops

The outstanding non-performing loans (NPLs) and the NPL ratio of the Chinese financial institutions in the banking sector continued to decline in February, the China Banking Regulatory Commission said. The outstanding NPLs were 1.53 trillion yuan in February, down 17.5 billion yuan from the beginning of this year, while the NPL ratio was 4.5 percent, down 0.42 percentage points from two months ago.

SOE income falls