The figure was 0.62 percentage points lower when compared to the beginning of 2008, China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said.
The combined bad loans of major commercial banks reached 1.18 trillion Yuan ($172.48 billion) at the end of June, 24.71 billion Yuan less than at the beginning of this year, official Xinhua news agency said, quoting CBRC Chairman Liu Mingkang.
Banks should further increase risk prevention and boost capital adequacy in the second half, he said.
China's financial institutions extended a total of 2.7 trillion Yuan loans in the first half of the year, a 15.2 per cent jump rise from a year earlier, it said.