Systemic risk in Chinese interbank lending networks: insights from short-term and long-term lending data

Since the financial crisis, financial networks, such as interbank lending networks, have been highly concerned by regulators in terms of their vulnerability. To study the risk contagion power of financial networks deeply, this paper integrates short-term and long-term lending data among commercial banks and stress tests the Chinese interbank lending network by using the extended distress and default contagion model. The results show that the reconstructed short-term lending network utilizing information on bank assets exhibits a core–periphery structure with systemically important banks at its core. Stress test results suggest that an interbank lending network that does not consider long-term lending data underestimates the network’s systemic risk when market conditions are poor. In addition, we find that the Chinese interbank lending network has gradually become more risk-resistant over time, and the vulnerability of the network after the outbreak of COVID-19 is lower than that before. Finally, we suggest that regulators can make full use of ancillary data, such as long-term interbank lending data, to stress test financial networks, thereby accurately capturing the network’s structure and preparing for ex-ante interventions before a crisis strikes to mitigate network systemic risk.