CHINA-ECONOMY: CHINESE BANKS CLOSE BRANCHES
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Caixin reported (May 19) that in order to cut costs, China's banks had closed a number of branches. It said data from China’s top banking regulator showed that Chinese banks closed 826 branches in the first four months of 2020, about 70 more than in the same period last year. The six largest state-owned commercial banks all reduced their number of branches in 2019, according to annual reports. Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd. (ICBC) each closed more than 200 branches on the Chinese mainland, the most among the “Big Six.” Many lenders continued to reduce their numbers of ATMs last year, with ICBC closing more than 7,000.
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