Each of the four — the others are the China Construction Bank, the Bank of China

Each of the four — the others are the China Construction Bank, the Bank of China
and the Agricultural Bank of China — has thousands of branches to collect deposits, a stable source of financing, although the banks also sell some wealth management products.
Shadow Lending Threatens China’s Economy, Officials Warn -
By KEITH BRADSHERMARCH 18, 2017
BEIJING — The chairman of China’s biggest bank and a senior Chinese insurance regulator issued strong warnings on Saturday about the dangers of shadow
banking to the Chinese economy, in the latest signs of growing top-level concern here about a rise in highly speculative, poorly regulated lending.
Wealth management products are often sold by banks and other Chinese financial institutions to ordinary Chinese investors with the promise of interest rates much higher than what banks offer for deposits,
but the obligations are often kept off bank balance sheets.
These loans — which are also kept off the books of banks — jumped 20 percent in the 12 months through the end of January,
and now account for 9 percent of overall credit in China, according to a report last month from Natixis, a French-owned financial services firm.
But as Mr. Yi’s and Mr. Chen’s comments underlined on Saturday, worries in China are focusing on how Chinese financial institutions raise the money
that they lend — and what could happen if investors suddenly demand much of that money back.
If not, the real economy will suffer.”
Chen Wenhui, the vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission, said Chinese regulators were particularly trying to understand the swift expansion of internet lending platforms
that are raising huge sums of money from the general public.