ICBC Chief Says Crisis Will Ripple

The chairman of China's largest bank warned that the aftereffects of the financial crisis will be felt for some time and might hurt the strength of the U.S. dollar.

'I don't think this will be a short-term thing,' said Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. Chairman Jiang Jianqing in an interview. 'Rebuilding confidence takes a much longer time than people expect.' He voiced his support for the U.S. government intervention in the financial markets. But he said the U.S. dollar 'will be challenged' by the $700 billion bailout plan.

'So far we don't know where the bottom is and what the exact cost of this crisis will be,' said Mr. Jiang, who was visiting New York City to open ICBC's first branch in the U.S. 'I don't think the U.S. will lose its status as a financial leader in the world,' he said, saying the country's financial industry and broader economy is resilient.

Nonetheless, Mr. Jiang took pains to contrast the health of Chinese banks to their U.S. counterparts. At ICBC, 'we're flush with cash, which is the envy of Wall Street now,' Mr. Jiang said. ICBC has $1.4 trillion in assets, with more than $1 trillion in deposits, while its outstanding loans amount to $550 billion.

Chinese banks have limited exposure to toxic assets issued by Western institutions, he said. They are 'quite selective' in extending mortgage loans, said Mr. Jiang, as commercial banks hold mortgages on their balance sheets instead of securitizing and reselling them. 'We are not heavily engaged in financial derivatives and innovations,' he said.

Although China's financial system is healthy, Mr. Jiang warned against complacency. 'Banks are battling with risks every day, including credit risk and the risk of exposure to the global economy,' he said. 'You never know when and where the next risks are going to come.'

In particular, Mr. Jiang said he was monitoring how a broader global recession would crimp China's export-driven economy. Through the first half, the nonperforming ratio of ICBC small- and medium-sized business loans 'has moderately increased' from the beginning of this year, albeit still below 1%, he said.

中国第一大行中国工商银行董事长姜建清警告说，金融危机的余波将持续一段时间，并可能拖累美元。

姜建清在接受采访时说，我认为这件事不会是短期的，重塑信心花的时间比人们预期的要长的多。他表示支持美国政府对金融市场的干预。不过他也说，美元将受到7,000亿美元救助计划的挑战。

姜建清说，到目前为止，我们不知道何处是底部，也不知道这场危机的确切损失规模。他说，我认为美国不会失去世界金融业领头羊的地位，美国的金融业以及整体经济都富有韧性。姜建清日前正在纽约市参加工商银行在美首家分行的开业活动。

尽管如此，姜建清仍耐心地将中国银行与美国同行的财务状况做了对比。他说，在工商银行，我们有充足的现金，如今这是华尔街所 慕的。工商银行有1.4万亿美元资产，逾1万亿美元的存款，未偿贷款为5,500亿美元。

姜建清说，中国各银行在西方金融机构发行的不良资产上的风险敞口有限。他说，由于商业银行将抵押贷款计入资产负债表，而不是打包成证券、重新出售，他们在扩展抵押贷款方面精挑细选。他说，我们在金融衍生品和创新性产品领域涉足不深。

他警告说，尽管中国金融体系是健康的，但是不能骄傲自满。他说，银行每天都在与风险作战，包括信贷风险和在全球经济中的风险敞口；你永远不知道下次风险什么时候发生，发生在哪里。

他说，尤其值得一提的是，他正在密切关注全球衰退将如何影响中国出口型经济。他说，今年上半年，工商银行中小企业不良贷款率较年初有温和的增加，但仍低于1%。