Asset Allocation and Bank Resilience: China Insights

This research is based on the panel data from the annual reports of Chinese commercial banks for the years 2010-2020. A panel data model is constructed to empirically investigate the influence of commercial banks' asset allocation on financial stability. The study innovatively explores the differences between large-scale banks and general-scale banks in this context, as well as the interaction effects between large-scale banks and their methods of capital application. The findings indicate that: firstly, the higher the proportion of corporate loans in commercial banks, the stronger the stability. With the support of national policies, the operating environment for emerging industries has improved, leading to a reduction in bankruptcy risks and further decreasing the credit risk of related banks, which contributes to the enhancement of banks' financial stability. Additionally, compared to securities investments affected by market fluctuations, corporate loans are less susceptible to significant capital changes, and their risks are primarily determined by the operating conditions of the related enterprises, making them relatively controllable. Secondly, the higher the proportion of personal loans in commercial banks, the stronger the stability. The largest part of personal loans consists of housing mortgage loans, which have a low non-performing loan rate and high quality in China. Therefore, an increase in personal loans helps to enhance the financial stability of banks. Thirdly, large-scale banks exhibit lower financial stability. Due to the redundancy in management personnel in large-scale banks, management costs, adjustment costs, and transaction costs are relatively high. Furthermore, it is worth noting that because large-scale banks hold a significant amount of surplus funds, they are prone to excessive securities investments. Fluctuations in the securities market increase external risks and decrease financial stability.