Commercial banks' NPL ratio moves higher in Q4

Regulator will give high priority to financial risk prevention and control

The China Banking Regulatory Commission said on Tuesday that the nonperforming loan ratio of commercial banks in China a the fourth quarter came in at a 1.81 percent, up from an NPL ratio of 1.76 percent in the third quarter - a development which triggered further measures by the national banking regulator.

The NPL ratio increased by 5 basis points from the previous quarter and 14 basis points from the previous year's fourth quarter, while the Q4 ratio of loan impairment losses to nonperforming loans fell about 5.7 percentage points year-on-year to 175.5 percent, according to the regulatory commission.