SHANGHAI -- Protests have broken out in China after several regional banks prevented customers from making withdrawals in late April, stoking fears of a greater credit crisis without an intervention from financial authorities.
At least three institutions based in Henan Province -- Yu Zhou Xin Min Sheng Village Bank, Shangcai Huimin County Bank and Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank -- have frozen a total of 10 billion yuan ($1.49 billion) in deposits, according to Chinese reports. One million customers are believed to be affected.