BEIJING, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese commercial banks' bad loan ratio remained flat in the second quarter due to strengthened efforts from financial regulators to rein in risks, data from the banking regulator showed.
The non-performing loan (NPL) ratio stood at 1.74 percent at the end of June, the same as that three months earlier, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in a statement Tuesday.
Chinese lenders' NPL ratio declined for the first time since 2012 to the current level in the last quarter of 2016, an encouraging sign for the economy plagued by piling debt.
Banks' credit asset quality remained stable and risk resistance continued to improve, the CBRC said.
Loan loss reserves increased to 2.9 trillion yuan (around 430 billion U.S. dollars), up by 74.7 billion yuan from last quarter, while the provision coverage was at 177.2 percent, down 1.58 percentage points from the end of March.
The banking sector saw a year-on-year profit increase of 7.92 percent in the first six months, up by 3.31 percentage points from last quarter.
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