China's property crisis is bleeding into its banking sector, which is being asked to prop up developers

• China's property crisis has impacted the country's biggest banks, increasing non-performing loans.
• Beijing is urging banks to boost financing for "white list" property developers to help the sector.
• Despite the crisis, Chinese banks say they have sufficient buffers to manage risks.

China's property crisis has hit the books of its biggest lenders, which are reporting an uptick in non-performing loans.

Non-performing loans at China's big four banks — Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Agricultural Bank of China — jumped 10.4% in 2023, from 1.117 trillion Chinese yuan, about $155 billion, in 2022 to 1.23 trillion yuan.