Tropical Cyclone Podul, which formed early Friday over waters north of Guam in the western Pacific Ocean, is intensifying and gradually approaching the waters east of China's Taiwan region.
As of Saturday morning, the 11th Pacific storm of 2025 was located in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, north-northwest of Guam, with maximum sustained winds of force 9 near the center.
Podul is expected to approach the seas southeast of Taiwan next week.
Tropical Storm Podul intensifies while approaching waters east of Taiwan
China's outstanding aggregate social financing -- the total amount of financing to the real economy -- reached 442.12 trillion yuan (about 63.4 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of 2025, up 8.3 percent year on year, central bank data showed on Thursday.
The country's aggregate social financing stood at 35.6 trillion yuan (about 5.1 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up by 3.34 trillion yuan (about 479 billion U.S. dollars) from the year 2024, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the country's central bank.
According to the data, the M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 8.5 percent year on year to 340.29 trillion yuan (about 48.8 trillion U.S. dollars) as of the end of December.
In addition, outstanding yuan loans stood at 271.91 trillion yuan (about 39 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of 2025, up 6.4 percent year on year.
China's aggregate social financing maintains high growth in 2025
