Chinese bank NPLs up 20.7% to US$84.83b in 1Q13

It's US$5.4 billion more than 2012.

At the end of Q1, Chinese bank NPLs reached US$84.83 billion, up 20.7% year-on-year and US$5.4 billion more than 2012. The NPL ratio also rose to 0.99% from 0.95% at the end of 2012.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission said banks in China face severe risks from rebounding bad loans and increased risk exposure in some regions and industries.

It predicted that bad loans in Chinese banks would continue to climb and urged banks to make accurate loan classifications. CBRC will step up on-site monitoring of bank loan classification this year and focus its attention on banks' overdue loans and "special mention" loans.

The latter are those still pay principal and interest but are seen as having the potential to become bad loans.