IN the first half (H1) of the year, Shenzhen’s banking sector ranked third among large and medium-sized Chinese cities in terms of total assets, as well as deposits and loans, according to the Shenzhen office of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC), Shenzhen Economic Daily reported.

The CBIRC data for H1 showed that Shenzhen’s total banking assets stood at 12.01 trillion yuan (US$1.77 trillion) by June 30, up 9.35% year on year.

The sector’s loan balance was 8.36 trillion yuan, an increase of 11.38% year on year, while the deposit balance rose by 9.74% year on year to reach 8.56 trillion yuan.

According to the statistics, the city’s bad loan ratio was 1.60%, 0.17 percentage points lower than the national average in the same period.

The city’s insurance industry accumulated assets reaching over 766 billion yuan by the end of June, up 16.41% year on year.

In the first half of this year, Shenzhen’s banking and insurance sectors further strengthened the financial support for small and micro enterprises as well as self-employed people that were hit hard by the pandemic outbreaks.

Loans worth 131.56 billion yuan were lent to transportation, logistics, catering and lodging, tourism and culture, wholesale and retail industries, as part of the city’s stimulus package, CBIRC’s Shenzhen office said.

(Xia Yuanjie)