Foreign banks take a hit

New deposits and loans at foreign banks in Shanghai plunged in 2012 from a year earlier amid a slower growth in deposits and credit at all lenders, the Shanghai headquarters of the People's Bank of China said Wednesday.

The foreign banks saw a decline of 85.5 billion yuan (US$13.6 billion) in new deposits in all currencies, which accounted for 3.2 percent of the industry total, to 17.1 billion yuan last year from 2011.

The deposits held by all banks rose 9.2 percent to 6.35 trillion yuan by the end of last year, 3.1 percentage points slower from a year earlier.

New loans in all currencies at foreign banks fell 8.3 billion yuan last year.

The total outstanding loans at all lenders rose 10.2 percent to 4.1 trillion yuan at the end of last year.