CHINA'S SHADOW BANKING SECTOR : RECENT DEVELOPMENTS AND SYSTEMIC RISK ASSESSMENT

Abstract

It is said that the shadow banking system could be one of a variety of sources for the current global financial crisis. This sector also exists in China in a lesser advanced form than in Western economies in terms of instruments, risk measures or regulations. The official definition of China's shadow banking has not been developed yet. The article presents the current stage of China's shadow banking development, the size of this sector, recent studies focus on the role of informal financing in China's economic growth and the risk derives from expanding shadow banking instruments. Due to the lack of risk measuring institutions and lack of data concerning Chinese shadow banking, Western concepts of systemic risk measurement cannot be applied in China. Consequently this paper adopts simple approach to systemic risk assessment.