Falling coal prices cast shadow over producing regions

Nonperforming loan ratios have surged in regions that rely heavily on coal, whose prices are sinking as the economy slows, according to media reports and industry sources.

The banking sector's NPL ratio now exceeds 5 percent in Shanxi province and nearly 4 percent in Ordos, a major city in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Those figures are several times the national average.

In Ordos alone, outstanding bad loans total nearly 10 billion yuan ($1.61 billion), accounting for almost one-third of the NPLs in Inner Mongolia, Beijing-based Caixin Media Co Ltd reported.