Disparities in 2013 results for major Chinese banks. - The results for the major Chinese banks in 2013 were mixed. On the positive side, profits for the five main institutions again broke new records. At a cumulative level they were worth 862 billion Yuan (more than €100 billion) or an annual increase of almost 13%. This therefore confirms the comfortable position enjoyed by Chinese banks, thanks to legislation that continues to maintain a margin between deposit and lending rates that guarantees them comfortable incomes. ICBC achieved an increase of +10.1% in its profits, China Construction Bank +11.1%, Agricultural Bank of China +14.6% and the Bank of China +12.4%. Nonetheless, apart from the Bank of China, the fourth in the rating, all the other major financial institutions had lower growth rates in 2013 than in the previous year, a direct consequence of the economic slowdown. It is, however, the quality of their balance sheets that has declined. At the end of 2013, they all presented increases in the levels of nonperforming loans. Although these appeared to be of reasonable proportions, some observers believe that these really are too high. Stock market valuations of these establishments also reached extremely low levels of around 0.85% of their book value. (IL)