China's top banks, also called the Big Four, are expected to report the slowest profit growth since the financial crisis of 2008 due to bad loans and stiff competitions, a Bloomberg survey predicted.

The Big Four - Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China, China Construction Bank - are expected to report a combined net income of at least 790 billion yuan, or around US$126 billion, next week for the fiscal year 2013.

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The figure is only 11 percent more than what the four banks reported in 2012 and experts and analysts forecast that the growth will slow to 7 percent this year. Their US and European counterparts are expected to make 17 percent growth this year.

While ICBC and Construction Bank have declined to comment when asked about their earnings, sources said China's third largest bank - the Agricultural Bank - is poised to report a 14 percent grown in annual profit. Bank of China, meanwhile, is believed to report an 8.5 percent profit rise. Construction Bank is expected to post 11 percent gain.

After several years of dominating the financial market of China, the four big lenders are now facing tough times, buoyed by stiff competition, rising bad loans, and new regulations that further opened up the market to private entities.

China's shadow banking industry, which offers higher returns and more convenience to customers, are also further adding up to the burden of the Big Four. And to make matters stiffer, the banking regulator of China allowed the setting up of five privately owned banks through a trial that will determine if private banks are now ready to compete with the bigger banks.

When the government announced that it was accepting application for privately-owned banks, hundreds of multinational financial firms have express interest. As of last month, the four biggest lenders still hold a majority - 50.8 percent - of the country's household savings. The figure, however, represents a drop of 5 percent from a year earlier.