The monthly rate of non-performing loans from banks in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province, dropped 0.09 percent for April, the first time in eighteen months that the rate decreased, according to Economic Information Daily.

Wenzhou suffered a financial crisis from widespread loan defaults by factory owners and investors from the end of 2010.

The rate of bad loans increased from 0.37 percent in July 2011 to 4.01 percent in March 2013.

In order to deal with the problems of leftover bad loans and assets, the city government carried out a series of measures.

"The city government has been keen to control the newly increasing bad loans and solve the existing problems in certain enterprises with restructuring and regular risk monitoring," said an official from the city government.