Levels of distressed assets are rising at Chinese banks despite widespread efforts to camouflage the problem, hitting banks' profits.

Economists and analysts have been assessing the likelihood and the likely impact of capital account liberalisation by the new Chinese leadership.

Underground banks saw an increase in bad debts in April, with small manufacturers and property developers posing the greatest default risks, China Confidential’s survey of 80 underground banks nationwide has found.

China’s vast shadow financing system has many constituent parts, each with a different risk profile and prospects. Overall, though, risk levels are rising.

Our in-depth, two-part evaluation of the risks posed by China’s shadow finance system concludes that should China’s GDP growth rate subside or property market slump, a host of shadow finance excesses could spark a crisis.

China’s freight volumes slowed down during the first three weeks of April both on a MoM and YoY basis, according to a China Confidential’s survey of 207 rail, road, waterway and air logistics companies across the country. 

DANWEI – In recent months, the unexplained appearance of dead ducks and pigs in rivers and ongoing debate on social media about fine particle (PM2.5) air pollution have been good news for some companies. The penetration rate of water and air purifying machines in China is still comparatively low. Both these markets are becoming very competitive with emerging Chinese competitors steadily gaining market share from more established foreign players, such as Dutch multinational Philips (NYSE:PHG) and Japan’s Sharp (TYO:6753), by developing cheaper models. 

A selection of key financial data over the past fortnight.