Ex-PBoC staffer leaps to defend shadow banks

A shadow banker and former central bank staffer has jumped to the defence of China's rich tapestry of non-bank lenders, claiming they're in better shape than the nation's mainstream banks and better placed to make safe loans. Joe Zhang, effectively retired but still listed as chairman of Guangzhou-based Wansui Micro Credit Company, delivered an often controversial speech at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong yesterday. He was seeking to promote his book – Inside China’…