BEIJING — China's banks listed on the A-share market registered decreasing monthly nonperforming loans (NPLs) in the third quarter of the year, China Securities Journal reported on its website.

Among the 33 A-share listed banks that have so far released their Q3 reports, 21 banks saw their NPL ratio drop month on month, while nine banks reported an unchanged NPL ratio.

The banking sector's NPLs remain generally stable at present, said Wang Jun, a chief economist at Zhongyuan Bank.

Commercial banks' asset quality will not trend down in the future, thanks to the optimizing structure of China's economy and improved risk management level of financial institutions as well as their transition to digital technology, Wang forecast.

China has increased efforts to contain financial risks in recent years. The country handled NPLs worth about 1.4 trillion yuan (about $197.9 billion) in the first three quarters of this year.