HONG KONG -- China's big four state-owned banks stepped up lending to small and midsize businesses in 2018, acting on orders from authorities as Beijing seeks to invigorate a sluggish domestic economy.
The collective loan balance at Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China and Bank of China was up 9% to 52.5 trillion yuan ($7.8 trillion) at the end of 2018 from a year earlier, with added interest and fee income feeding a 4% to 5% rise in net profit, earnings reports released this week showed.
