Economic Downturn Exposes China Trust Industry to Accelerating Risks

Accumulated risks in China’s trust industry accelerated in 2020 as a result of the economic downturn, with more than 310 defaults on pooled trust products, with a default amount of more than RMB 160 billion.

China’s economic downturn in 2020 accelerated the exposure of the risks accumulated in the trust industry, Firstrade reported on Jan. 13.

According to incomplete statistics from third-party platforms, 13 trust product defaults occurred in December 2020, involving a total amount of RMB 8.242 billion. From the perspective of investment areas, real estate, industrial and commercial enterprises and basic industries are all areas with a high incidence of defaults.

According to Firstrade, there were more than 310 defaults on pooled trust products in 2020, involving more than RMB 160 billion in defaulted projects.

The report quoted industry insiders as predicting that in 2021, 3.8 trillion trust products will mature and the trust industry will still have a tough time.

Data shows that in the next three years, China’s trust product maturities will be 3.8 trillion yuan, 3.37 trillion yuan and 2.01 trillion yuan, respectively.

On January 11, China Trust Registration data show that the amount of new trust collections handled to complete initial registration for the year 2020 was 6.82 trillion yuan, the number of new product pens was 27,900, the amount of collections handled to complete termination registration was 6.73 trillion yuan, and the number of liquidated products was 1.74 trillion.