China's four asset management companies (AMCs) have either written off or recovered 839.75 billion yuan (US$104.9 billion) in non-performing assets from banks by the end of 2005, the Chinese banking regulator reports.

The China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said in the latest report that only 176.6 billion yuan (US$22 billion), just over one-fifth of the total, was recovered in cash.

The AMCs - Huarong, Cinda, Orient and Great Wall - were set up in 1999 to manage a mountain of problem assets transferred from China's Big Four state banks.

Chinese banks acquired huge debts after reckless lending to state-owned enterprises in past decades, analysts said.

After lessening their financial burdens, the banks are speeding up corporate governance-oriented reform.

(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2006)