{"id":551341,"date":"2026-04-26T08:31:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:31:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/551341\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T08:31:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T08:31:33","slug":"default-in-our-stars-chinas-banks-use-satellites-to-track-assets-with-sky-high-scrutiny","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/551341\/","title":{"rendered":"Default in our stars: China\u2019s banks use satellites to track assets with sky-high scrutiny"},"content":{"rendered":"

With bad loans and repayment collateral in focus, Chinese banks are increasingly using satellites to evaluate their clients\u2019 terrestrial assets, mounting a hi-tech offensive to safeguard against rising credit risks.<\/p>\n

China Merchants Bank and Shanghai Pudong Development Bank started making use of satellites<\/a> this year, following a 2022 launch by Ping An Bank and a 2020 move into satellite remote-sensing technology by Zhejiang E-Commerce Bank.<\/p>\n

Furthering the trend, the Postal Savings Bank of China and the China-headquartered Chang Guang Satellite Technology sent a jointly developed satellite into space this month, the Economic Observer reported.<\/p>\n

Access to satellite-aided remote sensing \u2013 an outgrowth of China\u2019s space technology since its commercialisation kicked off in 2014 \u2013 helps banks track assets such as property and vehicles for which they intend to lend money or have already made outstanding loans, analysts said.<\/p>\n

High-resolution satellite pictures help gauge the status of loan collateral to ensure it remains viable for repossession in case of a loan default, they explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is to reduce non-performing loans and assess better the rural and small business market when traditional credit records may not be complete,\u201d said Liang Yan, a professor of economics at Willamette University in the US.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy understanding is that some banks use proprietary satellites and remote sensing to monitor borrower-collateral assets \u2013 such as agricultural land, construction progress on real estate projects and industrial activity \u2013 to assess and control credit risks of their loans,\u201d Liang said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

03:54<\/p>\n

The race for the moon\u2019s south pole: can China beat Nasa\u2019s 2028 deadline?<\/p>\n

The race for the moon\u2019s south pole: can China beat Nasa\u2019s 2028 deadline?<\/p>\n

The shift towards space-based surveillance comes as some of China\u2019s largest banks continue to grapple with high levels of bad assets<\/a> in their property-loan portfolios amid an ongoing real estate slump.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With bad loans and repayment collateral in focus, Chinese banks are increasingly using satellites to evaluate their clients\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551342,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[84,189603,148242,24995,189599,1294,189601,55665,27967,181304,85411,189602,56,54,158,55,9790,132114,189600],"class_list":{"0":"post-551341","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ceic-data","10":"tag-chang-guang-satellite-technology","11":"tag-china-merchants-bank","12":"tag-economic-observer","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-ping-an-bank","15":"tag-postal-savings-bank-of-china","16":"tag-renmin-university","17":"tag-shanghai-pudong-development-bank","18":"tag-sichuan","19":"tag-southstate-securities","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-united-states","23":"tag-unitedkingdom","24":"tag-university-of-hong-kong","25":"tag-willamette-university","26":"tag-zhejiang-e-commerce-bank"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551341","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551341"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551341\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551341"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551341"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551341"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}