Hong Kong Banking Sector's Exposure to non-bank Chinese Entities

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced today (10 January) the results of its quarterly survey on authorised institutions' exposure to non-bank Chinese entities as at end-September 2000.

According to the survey, total exposure of the banking sector to non-bank Chinese entities at end-September 2000 amounted to HK$211.0 billion, which represented 3.2% of the sector's total assets. On-balance sheet exposure amounted to HK$184.8 billion and off-balance sheet exposure (including guarantees, letters of credit issued on behalf of the Chinese entities by authorised institutions, and replacement cost of foreign exchange and derivatives contracts) amounted to HK$26.2 billion. The survey also showed that there were 158 authorised institutions which had exposures to such entities.

Compared to the position at end-June 2000, total exposure of the banking sector to non-bank Chinese entities declined slightly by HK$4.2 billion or 2.0%. This was mainly caused by the reduction in outstanding letters of credit and guarantees. For local banks, the total exposure remained flat at HK$70.1 billion.

Starting from the next survey, the HKMA will release the results of the survey in its Quarterly Bulletin. The survey results for the position at end-December 2000 will be found in the May 2001 edition of the Quarterly Bulletin.

For further enquiries, please contact:

Jasmin Fung, Manager (Press), at 2878 8246 or
Caitlin Wong, Manager (Press), at 2878 1687

Hong Kong Monetary Authority
10 January 2001

Annex

Banking sector's exposure to non-bank Chinese entities
(as at end-September 2000)

* Includes red-chips, H-shares, other state, provincial or municipal government owned entities and other entities known to be owned or controlled by Chinese interests.