China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission Photo: VCG

As of press time on Thursday, 15 Chinese banks disclosed their exposures to mortgage defaults and stressed that the risks they face are "controllable," after homebuyers in some Chinese cities stopped paying their mortgages as property developers delay deliveries due to liquidity difficulties.

Among them, 10 banks reported a total of 2.1 billion yuan ($310.38 million) in non-performing loans or those with delayed payments, according to guancha.cn, citing data from jwview.com. Two banks reported loans with delayed payments totaling over 600 million yuan each. 

Meanwhile, China's banking and insurance watchdog said on Thursday night that it will guide financial institutions in risk management in a market-based manner and keep real estate financing stable.

Current suspended projects involve a balance of non-performing loans equal to 637 million yuan, accounting for only 0.01 percent of the bank's mortgage loan balance, with risks remaining controllable, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China said on Thursday.

The bank said that the volume of mortgages that had stopped repayment amounted to 384 million yuan, which are concentrated in key risk areas in Central China's Henan Province.

The preliminarily identified suspension of construction involving overdue housing loans is 127 million yuan, a relatively small scale and proportion, with risks that are controllable, Postal Savings Bank also said, stressing that the bank's housing loan balance exceeds 2 trillion yuan, and the real estate non-performing loan ratio is at a low level.

The Agricultural Bank of China said that real estate that has been preliminarily identified as having a risk associated with delivery of a building" involves an overdue mortgage loan balance of 660 million yuan, accounting for 0.012 percent of the bank's mortgage loan balance and 0.017 percent of the first-hand building mortgage loan balance.

The China Construction Bank did not disclose the specific amount of troubled mortgages, but said that the scale involved the current suspension of construction in some areas and the failure to deliver real estate on time was small, and the overall risk is controllable.

Such comments came after mortgage defaults in some Chinese cities that reportedly involve some 100 yet-to-be delivered property projects gained widespread attention.

More than 100 real estate projects in 18 provinces, including South China's Guangdong Province and Central China's Henan and Hunan provinces, make up a list of projects exposed to mortgage defaults, Tianmu Media based in Hangzhou, East China's Zhejiang Province reported on Wednesday.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Thursday that it will guide financial institutions in risk management under the trends of the market and pledged to keep stability in real estate financing after some homebuyers defaulted on their mortgages as developers delayed deliveries. 

China's banking and insurance watchdog said that it attached great importance to the delays on deliveries of projects by developers and will work with the housing and construction departments and the central bank to support local governments ensure the delivery of homes and homebuyer's wellbeing.

On Thursday, banks vowed to closely monitor the development and work to prevent risks.

China Construction Bank said it will monitor the situation of cooperative enterprises and real estate, actively cooperate with local governments to provide good customer service, communicate with customers, and promote the stable and healthy development of the real estate market.

The Agricultural Bank of China said it will also maintain the steady and healthy development of the real estate market and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers.