An ABC Guide to Provincial Lending Patterns in China: Progress and Prospects

Abstract:     
With a non-performing loan ratio of over 20% in 2007, and a concentration in China's poorer areas, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) seemed an unlikely candidate for a successful initial public offering. The major capital injection the bank received in November 2008 was preceded by signs of a reduced proclivity to lend to China’s loss-making state-owned enterprises over our 1998-2007 sample period, however. Although some evidence of redistributive lending practices remains, ABC's prospects may not actually be any worse than those of the other big state-owned banks that undertook initial public offerings in 2005-2006.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: Chinese banks, Agricultural Bank of China, lending, state-owned enterprises, provincial income, privatization

JEL Classification: G21

Accepted Paper Series