China's financing data for January showed steady growth, underscoring a moderately loose monetary policy aimed at supporting high-quality economic development, according to central bank data released on Friday.
China's January financing data showed steady growth, reflecting the country's efforts to maintain a moderately loose monetary environment in order to support steady economic development.
China's outstanding aggregate financing for the real economy stood at 449.11 trillion yuan (about 65.08 trillion U.S. dollars) by the end of January, up 8.2 percent year on year, according to data released by the People's Bank of China on Friday.
The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 9 percent year on year to 347.19 trillion yuan last month, the central bank said.
Outstanding yuan loans totaled 276.62 trillion yuan at the end of January, up 6.1 percent year on year.
The faster growth of outstanding aggregate financing and M2 compared with nominal GDP signals a moderately loose monetary policy that has helped ensure a stable start to the year, according to Zhang Jiqiang, head of Huatai Securities Research Institute.
Zhang said that January's M2 growth exceeded the previous month, driven partly by base effects and partly by good capital market performance.
Interest rates remained at historic lows in January. The weighted average rate for newly-issued corporate loans was about 3.2 percent, down 20 basis points from a year earlier, while new housing loans averaged 3.1 percent, broadly unchanged.
The inclusive loans to small and micro businesses rose 11.6 percent to 37.16 trillion yuan by the end of January, and medium-to long-term loans to service industries, excluding real estate, climbed 9.2 percent to 60.03 trillion yuan, both outpacing overall loan growth.
Chinese online payment clearinghouse NetsUnion and card payment giant China UnionPay reported that mobile payment transactions in January rose sharply, with commodity purchases up 16.8 percent and service transactions up 8.6 percent year on year.
"With the approach of the Chinese New Year, demands for New Year goods shopping, home upgrades and travel have surged, giving a notable boost to personal loan growth. The overall economic sentiment has improved recently, mainly driven by the combined effects of existing and new policy measures," said Wen Bin, chief economist at China Minsheng Bank.
China's January financing data reflects moderately loose monetary policy
