Netease Financial, a well-known Chinese online financial news site, recently reported that the stock value of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) fell below the Bank’s net asset value on January 15. ICBC ranked number one in China’s banking industry in terms of corporate loans and corporate deposits and Euromoney named ICBC the “Best Bank in China.” Ninety percent of the publicly traded Chinese banks are now suffering below net asset market prices. At the same time, 143 companies listed on the Chinese stock market fell below net asset value. Based on the outcomes of the recent central government audit reports, local government debts are at all-time highs. Most of them were funded by state-owned commercial banks. It seems the landslide of the banking industry’s stocks has not ended yet.
Source: Netease Financial, January 15, 2014
http://money.163.com/14/0115/15/9IL0MURF00251LJJ.html