中國民營銀行並未改變銀行業

A batch of Chinese privately owned banks that reformers hoped would direct loans to credit-starved consumers and small businesses have yet to achieve significant scale, denting hopes that they will transform the state-dominated banking system.

改革人士原本指望中國一批民營銀行把貸款導向急需信貸的消費者和小企業，但這些銀行尚未達到足夠大的規模，使得對它們改變國有銀行占主導地位的銀行體系的希望受挫。

China’s banking regulator has revealed data for the first time on a group of five privately owned banks that Beijing approved in 2014 as part of a closely watched pilot programme. The group includes WeBank, backed by social media group Tencent Holdings, and MYBank, controlled by Ant Financial, the financial affiliate of ecommerce giant Alibaba Group.

中國銀行業監管機構首次發佈了5家2014年獲准成立的民營銀行的數據。這5家銀行屬於一個受到密切關注的試點項目，其中包括社交媒體集團騰訊控股(Tencent Holdings)支持的微衆銀行(WeBank)，和電商巨頭阿里巴巴集團(Alibaba Group)旗下金融子公司螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)持股的網商銀行(MYbank)。

As a group, the five pilot banks had total assets of Rmb133bn ($19bn) by the end of September and Rmb572m in the first three quarters on 2016, the regulator disclosed. That compares with Rmb217tn in banking assets for Chinese banks overall. If the group were a single institution, it would rank 18th among Chinese lenders by assets.

中國銀監會披露稱，這5家試點銀行截至今年9月底的資產總額達到1330億元人民幣（合190億美元），今年前3季度的淨利潤共計5.72億元人民幣。而中國銀行業的資產總額達到217萬億元人民幣。如果這幾家銀行是一家機構的話，其資產規模在中國銀行業將排在第18位。

“In absolute terms, the scale of their assets is very small, so they don’t pose a significant threat to traditional banks,” said Zhong Jiayong, analyst at Beijing Unbank Investment Consultant, which tracks the industry. “But they each have specific advantages that they can exploit, whether it’s their internet platforms or industry knowledge.”

“從絕對數字看，它們的資產規模非常小，所以它們對傳統銀行構不成重大威脅，”跟蹤銀行業的北京銀聯信投資顧問有限責任公司(Beijing Unbank Investment Consultant)的分析師鍾加勇說。“但是，它們每一家都有可以利用的特別優勢，無論是互聯網平臺、還是行業知識。”

China’s banks are overwhelmingly state-owned, and small, privately owned businesses have long complained that they struggle to obtain loans. Meanwhile, politically directed lending by state banks has sustained an army of state-owned “zombie enterprises” that are unprofitable but cannot die.

中國的絕大多數銀行是國有銀行，小型民營企業長期以來一直抱怨稱，它們很難獲得貸款。另一方面，國有銀行具有政治導向的貸款發放，維持了一大批國有“殭屍企業”——它們沒有盈利能力，卻不能倒閉。

Reform advocates had hoped that privately owned banks would shake up the industry by lending to underserved borrowers and even diverting some customer deposits away from incumbent banks. In a sign of the high-level attention, Chinese premier Li Keqiang attended WeBank’s launch ceremony last year.

改革倡導者們原本希望，民營銀行會撼動整個銀行業，把貸款發放給未得到充分金融服務的借款人，甚至從原有銀行分流一部分客戶存款。去年中國總理李克強出席了微衆銀行的開業儀式，顯示出高層的重視。

But the latest figures suggest the private banks — most of which started operations in 2015 — remain too small to meaningfully influence overall credit allocation. Rather than threatening traditional banks, the upstarts are mainly expected to draw on the resources of their corporate backers to serve specific niches.

但最新數據顯示，民營銀行——多數於2015年開始營業——仍規模太小，無法對整體信貸配置產生重大影響。這些新生銀行沒有威脅到傳統銀行，而是主要被寄望利用其股東的資源服務於具體的細分市場。

For Tencent and Ant Financial, that means drawing on huge troves of user data to identify worthy borrowers and assess credit risk. For others, such as banks backed by airline operator JuneYao Group and auto parts manufacturer Wanxiang China Holdings, it means leveraging relationships with and knowledge about customers and suppliers, who can also become borrowers.

對於騰訊和螞蟻金服而言，這意味着利用海量用戶數據去識別有價值的借款人和評估信貸風險。對其他銀行、比如航空服務運營商均瑤集團(JuneYao Group)和汽車部件生產商中國萬向控股(Wanxiang China Holdings)出資成立的銀行而言，這意味着利用與顧客和供應商之間的關係、以及有關顧客和供應商的知識，這兩者也可能成爲借款方。

According to WeBank’s president, the lender has extended loans to 60m customers since launch. Its most popular product is consumer loans, with an average amount of Rmb8,000. MYBank said earlier this year that its typical loan size was Rmb20,000.

微衆銀行行長稱，自開業以來，該行已向6000萬客戶發放了貸款。其最受歡迎的產品是消費貸款，平均貸款額爲8000元人民幣。今年早些時候，網商銀行表示，其典型貸款規模爲2萬元人民幣。

But internet banks have yet to resolve the issue of account opening procedures, given that most have few or no physical branches, Mr Zhong warned. Chinese law requires bank customers to appear in person and present identification in order to open an account. That has limited the private banks’ ability to attract deposits.

但鍾加勇警告稱，由於互聯網銀行大多沒有實體網點或網點很少，它們尚未解決開戶程序問題。中國法律規定，客戶必須親臨銀行提交身份證件，才能開立賬戶。這就限制了民營銀行吸引存款的能力。

Rather than deposits, private banks have relied on interbank borrowing to fund their balance sheets. MYBank is also seeking investors for its first loan securitisation deal and intends securitisation to become a major source of funding.

民營銀行一直依靠銀行間拆借而不是存款來支撐其資產負債表。網商銀行也在爲其首筆貸款證券化交易尋找投資人，並打算把證券化發展爲一條主要籌資渠道。

Since the initial group of five private banks in 2014, the regulator has approved six others.

自2014年批准成立第一批5家民營銀行以來，中國銀監會又批准了另外6家。