HONG KONG -- More than half of China's leading lenders reduced their exposure to the real estate sector last year, in a trend likely to exacerbate the cash squeeze for troubled developers.
Outstanding loans to the industry decreased at the end of 2021 from a year ago at 17 out of 32 leading banks listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange. They include state-owned China CITIC Bank and China Minsheng Bank, the country's largest privately owned bank.
