NPL growth stabilizing at major lenders

Signs of stabilization in the growth of nonperforming loans emerged for China's large commercial banks in the first half of 2017, but banking industry experts remain concerned about the risks associated with existing loans and new types of risk.

The NPL ratios of the four largest commercial lenders by assets all dropped from the end of last year, according to their interim results announcements.

Agricultural Bank of China Ltd recorded the biggest fall among the top four banks by 18 basis points to 2.19 percent, followed by Bank of China Ltd (by 8 basis points to 1.38 percent), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (by 5 basis points to 1.57 percent) and China Construction Bank Corp (by 1 basis point to 1.51 percent).