Competition and Profitability in the Chinese Banking Industry: New Evidence from Different Ownership Types

This paper tests the competition in different banking markets in China (deposit, loan, and non-interest income markets) using a sample of Chinese commercial banks (state-owned, joint-stock, and city commercial banks) over the period 2003-2013 and further examines the impact of competition on bank profitability for the whole sample and also for different ownership types. The results show that non-interest income market in the Chinese banking industry has a higher level of competition compared to the other two markets during the early years of the examined period. The findings further report that in a higher competitive deposit market, Chinese commercial banks have lower levels of profitability. Finally, the results suggest that a higher competitive loan market leads to higher profitability of all these three types of banks while the impact of deposit market competition is significant and negative.