Chinese banking institutions uncovered 894 criminal cases in the first three quarters of this year involving millions of yuan, despite an increase in the economic losses recovered, regulators said.

The report by the China Banking Regulatory Commission released yesterday said the banking industry uncovered 84 cases that involve more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000) each between July and September.

During the first half of this year, 240 cases of corruption were found in state-owned commercial banks alone, with losses totaling 1.6 billion yuan (US$197 million), according to Xinhua News Agency.

In addition to efforts to crack down on the crimes, the banking industry has strived to recover the losses.

About 1.02 billion yuan (US$126 million) was recovered from the 84 cases with each involving more than 1 million yuan (US$120,000).

It is an increase of 452 million yuan (US$55.7 million) year-on-year.

About one-third of the losses resulting from corruption were recouped, up 1.8 percent than the corresponding period.

The report also said the major banks saw a decline in banking crimes and economic losses in the third quarter.

In the third quarter, 199 cases were discovered at state-owned commercial banks and joint-stock commercial banks. The second quarter had 285 cases.

Financial losses resulting from the crimes were reduced by 397 million yuan (US$49 million) to 246 million yuan (US$30 million).

To crack down on corruption, 892 individuals involved in the banking crimes were punished from January to September 224 more than the corresponding period last year.

Among those accused, 376 were former senior management officials from financial institutions, accounting for 42.15 percent of the total.

As of September, 189 banks and more than 30,000 credit cooperatives had a total assets of 30 trillion yuan (US$3.7 trillion).

The big four state-owned commercial banks China Construction Bank, Agricultural Bank of China, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and Bank of China had 55 percent of the market.

(China Daily November 9, 2005)