China worries overblown: Smith

"The hysteria that emanated around China's slowdown is very much overblown."
Mike Smith, Chief Executive Officer ANZ

Speaking with ANZ BlueNotes on video, Smith said the bank's exposure to China was small and was of a higher quality than other parts of the Asia Pacific portfolio.

“China only accounts for about 3 per cent of [ANZ's] total outstandings as a group which is very small," he said. “Eighty eight per cent of our exposure to China is of a tenor of less than one year which basically means should there be issues our ability to actually reduce our exposure is very straightforward.

“I am absolutely not worried about our China exposure. It's actually much higher quality than the rest of Asia."

Smith said China has made some errors on policy but still had a lot of options open to address its issues.

“The hysteria that emanated around China's slowdown is very much overblown," he said, stressing the banks' other institutional options are more risky.

“The alternative… would be to look for growth in Australia at a much higher risk. We've not done that."

Smith said the credit quality at ANZ was better now than it ever had ever been.

“Compared to where we were pre-crisis we look like a very different bank," he said. “We have a very strong balance sheet, a very good credit book and a very good capital position."

Smith also touched on the differing views of China's health around the world, US interest rates and ANZ's overall Asian strategy. Watch the video above to find out more.