A PUMP EMPIRE: Residents observe a wide range of pumps at Grundfos Pump's concept store opened in Shanghai on January 28 (LI MINGFANG)

Bank Assets Surge

Chinese banks saw their total assets rise 17.7 percent to 131.27 trillion yuan ($20.9 trillion) at the end of 2012, said the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC).

The growth was slightly slower than the 18.3-percent growth rate recorded in 2011.

Banks' liabilities reached 122.63 trillion yuan ($19.7 trillion), up 17.5 percent, compared with an increase of 18 percent a year earlier.

Smaller lenders, including joint-stock commercial banks and city commercial banks, posted annual growth of more than 20 percent for both assets and liabilities, more than double the expansion rate of large lenders.

Large banks accounted for 44.1 percent of the banking industry's total assets and 44 percent of its total liabilities at the end of last year, both down from 46.6 percent a year earlier.

Five banks were categorized as large banks in the CBRC's calculations, namely the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the Agricultural Bank of China, the Bank of China, the China Construction Bank and the Bank of Communications.

Oversight on IPOs

China's securities regulator has begun to act on initial public offerings (IPOs) violations that occurred last year.

Since September 2012, the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has sent eight warning letters to six brokerage firms that failed to disclose information in a timely manner after their newly listed clients reported profit plunges, according to a report from the China Securities Journal.

According to relevant regulations, the CSRC can impose penalties on sponsors and issuers if listed companies post profit declines of 50 percent or greater in the same year that their shares became available for trading on the stock market.

The intensified monitoring efforts are intended to punish sponsors who spice up a company's financial performance to facilitate the process of going public, which may result in a marked profit slump in their annual reports after an IPO is issued.

China's stock market experienced major turbulence last year. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dipped to 1,959.77 points on December 3, its lowest reading since 2009.

The poor market has dented the confidence of smaller investors, who attributed their losses to excessive IPOs that allow companies to maliciously take money from the market.

Chinese investors have urged authorities to improve the way new stocks are issued and establish a delisting mechanism. In response, the CSRC has slowed the pace of IPO reviews and rolled out a string of measures to strengthen supervision and crack down on illegal activity.