City-level banks see NPLs rise in first quarter

City commercial banks' nonperforming loans and NPL ratios continued to rise in the first quarter, but their situation was still better than that of listed banks.

As of March 31, the balance of NPLs for city commercial banks rose to 61.92 billion yuan ($9.98 billion) from 54.8 billion yuan at the end of December. The average NPL ratio increased to 0.94 percent from 0.88 percent, according to the China Banking Regulatory Commission.

As of March 31, the balance of NPLs for 16 A-share listed banks hit 517.9 billion yuan with an average NPL ratio of 1.01 percent, said Ernst & Young LLP in a report.