Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, China's largest lender, and other banks will be inspected by the financial regulator in the next two months to assess their bad-loan levels and risk-control systems.
The China Banking Regulatory Commission will check Industrial & Commercial Bank, Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Agricultural Bank of China on their loans to steel, real estate, automobile and other industries, it said in a statement on its Web site.
Banks must also check themselves and report the results to the regulator by the end of this month, the regulator said.
China's big four state banks had 1.6 trillion yuan (US$193 billion) of bad loans at the end of last year, the commission has said. The bad loans are a legacy of decades of state-owned lending to unprofitable state enterprises.
The proposed inspections follow a report in the China Daily last week that China plans to slow investment growth in steel, refined aluminum and cement industries where expansion may outstrip demand. Central bank officials said in August excess money supply and runaway credit may hurt China's economy.
China's economy, the world's sixth-largest, will probably grow 8.5 percent this quarter, slowing from 9.9 percent in the fourth quarter, the Beijing-based commerce ministry said on its Web site last week.
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