( Financial Times ) -- Chinese listed companies have reported a sharp rise in unpaid bills during the third quarter , in one of the clearest signs yet of the toll that China 's economic slowdown is taking on corporate balance sheets . A Financial Times analysis revealed that 66 per cent of listed Chinese companies that have reported third-quarter results showed a year-on-year increase in such unpaid bills -- called accounts receivable in accounting -- as a proportion of sales , according to the S & P Capital IQ database . China 's economy is on track to grow at less than 8 per cent this year , which would be its slowest in more than a decade . While that is still very fast by international standards , many companies have invested on the expectation of sustained double-digit growth and the sharp rise in accounts receivable is an indication of how even a mild slowdown has caught them off guard . The hardest hit companies are those linked to the construction and infrastructure sectors , including machinery makers , steel mills , coal and cement companies . Sany Heavy , the world 's ninth-largest machinery maker by sales , reported that accounts receivables were up 83 per cent year to date at the end of the third quarter , hitting Rmb21bn . `` Due to the impact of the macroeconomic environment , sales repayments have seen some deferrals , '' the company said . Other machinery companies reported similar problems : at Shanghai-listed First Tractor , accounts receivable rose 169 per cent from the beginning of the year . At Zoomlion , a leading Chinese machinery maker , accounts receivable at the end of the third quarter were up 69 per cent from the beginning of the year , according to earnings released on Tuesday . Janet Zhang , economist at GaveKal Dragonomics said accounts receivable growth picked up in August and September . `` Some enterprises are reluctant to reduce production , so they continue to produce and sell things even when the buyers ca n't pay the money , '' Ms Zhang said . `` This is a big difference from 2008 , when collapsing demand caused many enterprises to reduce production very significantly . '' China 's metals producers and coal miners have been particularly slow to cut production despite lacklustre demand for their products . At Baosteel and Jiangxi Copper , the biggest listed producers of steel and copper , unpaid bills rose 52 per cent and 66 per cent , respectively , since the beginning of the year . However , some optimists expect that the problem of unpaid bills could improve by the end of this year , as Beijing 's small steps to encourage economic growth start to take effect . `` This might be a lagging indicator that will dissipate in coming quarters , '' said Frederic Neumann , an economist at HSBC . `` The financial situation has eased recently , '' he added , citing recently approved new infrastructure projects . Furthermore , for all the pain being felt by Chinese corporations , the country 's banks are showing few outward signs of any credit trouble . At the end of the first half , the overall bad debt ratio for the banking sector was just 0.9 per cent , near an all-time low since the country 's banks were recapitalised a decade ago . Of the big banks that have reported their third-quarter results , credit quality has actually improved . In quarter-on-quarter terms , non-performing loan ratios fell 0.5 basis points at China Construction Bank , 2bp at Agricultural Bank of China and 1.5bp at Bank of China . There has been a slight increase in overdue loans at most banks , however , and many analysts and investors believe that banks might be disguising a more serious deterioration in asset quality by moving bad loans off their balance sheets or simply rolling them over . Additional reporting by Simon Rabinovitch and Gwen Chen in Beijing . © The Financial Times Limited 2012 .
Chinese listed companies have reported a sharp rise in unpaid bills during the third quarter . Clear sign of the toll that China 's economic slowdown is taking on corporate balance sheets .