China's banking watchdog said Tuesday that domestic banking assets totaled 35.96 trillion yuan (US$4.43 trillion) by the end of September, up 19.3 percent from a year earlier.

The Big Four state-owned commercial banks -- China Construction Bank (CCB), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of China (BOC) -- have a combined market share of more than 50 percent, figures released by the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) show.

Chinese banking institutions also include 12 national shareholding banks, 112 city commercial banks and more than 30,000 credit cooperatives, with their combined assets making up less than half of the national total.

In a separate statement, the CBRC said the country's four asset management companies (AMCs)-- Cinda, Huarong, Great Wall and Orient -- had either written off or recovered 736.66 billion yuan (US$90.83 billion) in non-performing assets by the end of last month.

Cash recovered only accounts for slightly over one-fifth of the total non-performing assets disposed of by the AMCs, it said.

The AMCs were set up in 1999 to manage large amounts of problem assets transferred from the Big Four, which analysts say piled up bad debts after decades of reckless lending to state-owned firms.

China is overhauling its banks, typically the Big Four, before it fully opens its banking industry to foreign competition under commitments made as a part of its entry into the World Trade Organization by late 2006.

After clearing away the vast majority of their bad assets and ushering in foreign investors, Bank of China and China Construction Bank are both bracing for stock market listings, with Construction Bank set to list shares in Hong Kong as early as this week.

Public listings and foreign investors' involvement are expected to help Chinese banks strengthen corporate governance, streamline operations and become more transparent.

(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2005)