PwC report highlights growing pressure on listed lenders' profit growth

China's listed banks' net profits continued to grow in 2016, but they will face increasing pressure to maintain this growth, according to a report issued by PricewaterhouseCoopers on Monday.

The report analyzed the 2016 annual reports of 27 A-share and H-share listed lenders - six large commercial banks, seven joint-stock commercial banks, nine city commercial banks and five rural commercial banks.

The net profits of the 27 listed companies in 2016 totaled 1.32 trillion yuan ($191.9 billion), increasing 3.2 percent year-on-year, it said.