More than 60 percent of the bankers considered credit risk as the main challenge faced by the banking industry, according to a survey conducted by the China Banking Association and the accounting and auditing firm PwC, also known as PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The survey results, announced Friday, suggest the credit risk is reflected by economic downturn in certain regions and industries, as well as a slowdown in nonperforming loans.

Nearly 70 percent of the bankers said lending business is the focus of risk inspections in 2017, which shows the problem of nonperforming loans has begun to emerge.

Bankers are attaching greater importance to risk identification and monitoring, while each bank keeps strengthening pre-lending reviews, loan monitoring and firewall construction to prevent the transfer of risk.

The survey, covering 31 provinces and autonomous regions, received 1,920 valid questionnaires from various banking institutions.