Slower profit growth for Chinese banks in 2013

BEIJING - Net profit growth for China's commercial banks will be dragged down to 7 percent to 8 percent in 2013 by possible operational difficulty, according to a research report released Wednesday.

The net profits of China's banking sector, which are estimated to grow by 17 percent in 2012, will increase at a much slower pace in the year ahead, according to the report submitted by the Financial Research Center with China's Bank of Communications.

Affected by the real economy, monetary control and increasing financial marketization that erodes commercial banks' role in financing, revenue growth in the banking sector will slide to single-digits next year, said Lian Ping, chief economist with Bank of Communications.

The overall credit environment for next year is modest but not excessively loose, and commercial banks' lending practices will be kept under control, as sharp cuts for the reserve requirement ratio remain unlikely, Lian said.

Backed by possible growing credit demand, next year's new yuan-dominated lending is expected to exceed 9 trillion yuan ($1.4 trillion), the report forecast.

The report also forecast that social financing, a measure of funds raised by entities in the real economy, will surpass 16.5 trillion yuan in 2013.