Capital adequacy is the minimum level of capital required, by regulation, to be held by a bank. It is also a good measure of a bank's net worth and reflects a bank's ability to bear losses without becoming insolvent. As regulator, the PBOC realized early the importance of having sufficient reserves to offset losses from bad debt. Prior to March 1998, the reserves required were 18 to 20% of deposits. Now there is a legal requirement for banks to hold a minimum capital adequacy ratio of 8%. The main reason for this reduction was to improve the economics of the banks in China.
    資本充足是要求銀行持有的最低資本限度。這也是很好權衡銀行的資本凈值并反映銀行能承擔損失而不致破產(chǎn)的能力。作為主管銀行，PBOC（中國人民銀行）早就意識到擁有足夠儲備金以彌補壞賬虧損的重要性。1998年3月以前，規(guī)定儲備金為存款的18到20%。現(xiàn)在法律要求銀行擁有最低的資本充足率為8%。這次縮減的主要原因是為了改善中國的銀行經(jīng)濟狀況。