Recently, there have been reports of issues with bank deposits in mainland China. A bank depositor in the QiShang Bank branch in Zibo City, Shandong Province, found that the balance of over four hundred thousand yuan she had deposited over the years showed zero when she tried to withdraw. This incident has sparked attention on social media.
According to reports from JiMu News and Caifeng Society, a netizen recently posted online revealing that Ms. Qi, a depositor in Zibo, Shandong, had deposited over four hundred thousand yuan in QiShang Bank over the years, but her balance showed zero when she tried to withdraw. Ms. Qi printed her bank statements for the past four years and discovered that every deposit she made at the bank counter was withdrawn on the same day without her knowledge.
On October 22nd, reporters from the Chinese media tried to contact the QiShang Bank headquarters and the board office but were unable to reach them. In the afternoon of the same day, a Voking News reporter, posing as a depositor, called the Zibo branch of QiShang Bank to inquire about the situation. A staff member who answered the call claimed that the depositor had leaked their bank card account and password information to someone else. However, the staff member also mentioned that this was only hearsay.
Public records show that the top two shareholders of QiShang Bank are the Zibo City Urban Asset Operation Group Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Ronghai Guotou Investment Asset Management Co., Ltd., both of which are wholly state-owned enterprises.
This news has sparked discussions among netizens, with many Weibo users commenting: “I already guessed the bank’s response: that teller was a temporary worker, acting on their own, no longer employed here, not the bank’s responsibility.”
“Is this not secretly transferring depositor’s money? I wonder why bank employees all live in villas and drive luxury cars, now I know why.”
“Oh no, small banks are starting to make moves, lack of credibility can lead to a major crisis.”
“Banks are too dark, Henan banks directly freeze savings card balances, not allowing withdrawals.”
“‘The money you have in the bank does not belong to you,’ there will always be a reason to say that.”
In recent years, Chinese banks have been frequently embroiled in scandals, causing concern among depositors.
As early as April 2022, many village and town banks in Henan, Anhui, and other regions had reports of customer deposits being frozen without warning. Hundreds of depositors from different provinces intended to participate in protests in Zhengzhou, only to find their health codes suddenly changed from green to red, causing a shock to depositors.
According to media reports, the village and town banks involved in this round of deposit crises include at least four village and town banks in Henan Province and two in Anhui Province, involving deposits of over 39.7 billion yuan.
Some depositors of these banks where deposits are frozen have disclosed that they have been unable to withdraw their savings and are facing suppression from authorities, with their rights advocacy being silenced.