China: “Haunting” cash crisis in 4 rural banks

Deposits at Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank, Shangcai Huimin County Bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank and Kaifeng New Oriental National Bank have been frozen since April 18, sparking a number of protests. in the provincial capital Zhengzhou, according to the newspaper South China Morning Post May 30th.

Photos and videos of people gathering to protest in front of the Henan branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) in Zhengzhou last week have been circulating online, with banners demanding ” return our money”.

Chinese regulators have not confirmed the frozen amount, but depositors have formed groups on various social media platforms to express their displeasure. They also confirmed the amount of money frozen up to tens of billions of yuan.

Cash crisis appeared at 4 rural banks in Henan province – central China, sparking protests. Photo: SCMP

“The incident has affected me a lot since April 18. I can barely eat or sleep,” said a resident of Liaoning province, northeast China. This person, who only revealed her identity as Hang, said that she and her parents deposited a total of 860,000 yuan ($128,000) in three of the four banks mentioned above.

Many customers of these 4 banks also confirm with SCMP that they could not withdraw money either in person or online, with total savings deposits ranging from 200,000 yuan to more than 1.5 million yuan.

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) last month announced that “relevant departments have opened an investigation” into the four banks mentioned above. The PBOC also emphasized that “will cooperate with relevant departments to protect the legitimate rights and interests of financial consumers in accordance with the law”.