BEIJING: Chinese banks' bad loan ratio rose to 1.16 percent at the end of September up 0.09 percent points from June, the banking regulator said on Saturday.
The data could add to concerns that the slow economy and cooling property market might weigh on banks and brew up financial risks.
The total value of non-performing loans rose to 766.9 billion yuan ($125.13 billion), up 72.5 billion yuan from the previous quarter, the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.
The rise in the ratio across the whole banking sector is in line with anecdotal evidence of an increase in bad loans seen recently in some provinces plagued by industry overcapacity. Some independent economists believe the ratio is far higher.
But the CBRC struck a confident note in its statement.
"The banking industry's ability to offset risk is relatively strong, and credit and asset quality is completely controllable," the CBRC said.
This marks a change of tone from July, when the regulator urged lenders to control risks, telling banks they "must particularly monitor credit risks in the property sector, local government financial vehicles and industries that are suffering from overcapacity problems."
Chinese banks' capital adequacy ratios remained at a relatively high level, the CBRC also said.
Lenders' weighted average capital adequacy ratio was up 0.53 percentage points from the previous quarter to 12.93 percent, the regulator said.
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