China’s central bank chief has warned markets to expect weaker credit growth, in a speech that highlighted the impact of a prolonged property slowdown on the world’s second-largest economy.
Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, told a major financial forum in Shanghai that real estate and local government financing vehicles account for a large share of China’s Rmb250tn ($34.5tn) of bank lending. “Not only is this area no longer growing, but it is actually declining,” he said.
“It is natural that the growth rate of credit has declined alongside a shift from high-speed to ‘high-quality development’,” he told the Lujiazui Forum, referencing the high volume of existing lending. “Many loans in China are not efficient,” he added.