An ABC Guide to Provincial Lending Patterns in China

Given its nonperforming loan ratio of over 20 percent in 2007 and its concentration on poorer areas, the Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) seemed an unlikely candidate for a successful initial public offering. The major capital injection the bank received in November 2008 was preceded by signs of a reduced proclivity to lend to loss-making state-owned enterprises over the 1998-2007 sample period, however. Despite some evidence of redistributive lending practices, ABC's prospects may not be any worse than those of the other big state-owned banks that undertook IPOs from 2005 to 2006.