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Lead story:

AFTER THE CRISIS
Getting Rid of the Rust: Three years after the Crisis, many in the Asiaweek Financial 500 are in the black. Will profitability last?

NATIONS UPDATE
Mini-charts on your nation's banking market:
Australia China IndonesiaJapanPhilippinesSingaporeSouth KoreaTaiwan Thailand Hong Kong Malaysia
and the best performing banks in India Sri LankaPakistanBangladesh

ASIA'S HOTTEST STOCKS

Money and Investing: Riding the hottest financial stocks in Asia (plus the 100 hottest bank stocks)

PLUS
Foreign Invasion?: Overseas banks go slow on buyouts
Technology: The nitty gritty of Internet banking
Halfway at full speed: Hong Kong and Singapore rebound
The Acquired: What Danu Bank learned form its new owner
The Home-Alone Bank: Why Taiwan's Chinatrust didn't expand


Financial 500 Archive
1999 | 1998 | 1997
1996 | 1995


Asiaweek 1000
Your guide to Asia's 1000 largest companies

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China: Will the Reforms be in Time?
Snapshot: 22 banks in the 500 (1999: 22) Assets: $1,516.1b. ($1,351.4b.) Profits: $2.5b. ($2.7b.)


China is beginning to reform its lumbering banks. None too soon. The system has been overloaded with state-ordered spending to hopeless state enterprises. Now that WTO entry is all but a formality, competition from healthy foreign banks is on the horizon; reform can no longer be delayed.

RESTRUCTURING Dozens of smaller institutions have already been closed. After the not-so-small matters of bad loans and recapitalization have been handled, expect bigger banks to consolidate.

RECAPITALIZATION Four asset management companies are gradually taking away NPLs from the books of the four largest state banks and are now starting to sell off the collateral. Total cost of recapitalizing the Chinese banking system is estimated to be over $90 billion (slightly less than what Indonesia will probably spend).

REGULATION Reforms have given the central bank teeth and bank supervision has vastly improved though it still lags behind global or even regional standards.

Performance Topnotchers: 10 Best Performing Banks
   Institution
Assets
$ Mill
Profits
$ Mill
Profit as % of

500

Rank

Assets Equity
1 INDL. & COML. BANK OF CHINA Beijing 427,546 498.3 0.1% 2.3% 7
2 BANK OF CHINA Beijing 350,736 534.3 0.2% 3.0% 9
3 CHINA CONSTRUCTION BANK Beijing 265,845 598.8 0.2% 4.6% 11
4 AGRICULTURAL BANK OF CHINA Beijing 244,270 -110.3 13
5 BANK OF COMMUNICATIONS Shanghai 64,986 223.0 0.3% 6.9% 30
6 CHINA EVERBRIGHT BANK Beijing
20,278
81.8 0.4% 7.3% 105
7 CHINA MERCHANTS BANK Shenzhen
19,866
117.7 0.6% 8.2% 107
8 CITIC INDUSTRIAL BANK Beijing 19,003 91.8 0.5% 9.5% 115
9 GUANGDONG DEVELOPMENT BANK Guangzhou 14,723 21.9 0.1% 4.2% 144
10 SHANGHAI PUDONG DEVT. BANK Shanghai 12,466 111.8 0.9% 11.9% 155

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Rating show the number of banks in each category; "E" is the lowest grade for financial soundness. Souce: Moody's Investors Service


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