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Bad loans rise, risk under control

Chinese banks saw their bad loans rise in the first quarter of the year due to the slowing economy, but the risks were controllable, Guo Ligen, vice-chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, told a financial forum on Sunday. The increase in bad loans came as China moved to reduce the capacity of oversupplied industries and close "zombie companies", which only survive thanks to bailouts. By the end of Q1, outstanding loans to five severely oversupplied industries rose only 0.1 percent from the same period last year.