, Columnist
Crisis, What Crisis? Banks Pile Back Into China
Growth has picked up, but there's still plenty for lenders to worry about.
Everything is under control.
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China has been working hard to convince the world that it’s not a financial crisis waiting to happen. Judging from the latest data on cross-border lending, banks are buying it.
Foreign banks' total exposure to China reached $750 billion in June 2017, up from $659 billion a year earlier, according to the Bank for International Settlements. That's a big contrast to a couple of years ago, when lenders were pulling tens of billions out amid concerns that a combination of high indebtedness, excessive investment and slowing growth would precipitate a wave of defaults. Here's how that looks: