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
South China's Guangdong Province is accelerating its transformation into an international medical tourism hub, positioning itself as a destination for patients worldwide seeking affordable, high-quality care.
The push follows a joint initiative announced in late March by nine Chinese government departments, including the Ministry of Commerce, aimed at boosting spending by foreign tourists and enhancing exports of tourism services as part of broader efforts to expand the country's service sector.
Every day, some of the most complex surgeries are performed here. Li Zilun, deputy director of the division of vascular surgery at the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat‑sen University, is among the doctors capable of carrying out these intricate procedures.
He recently completed surgery on a patient with an aortic aneurysm, a condition often described as a "time bomb" in the body’s main artery, increasingly common in aging societies around the globe. Li also specializes in highly difficult and pioneering procedures, including repairing leaks caused by failed grafts.
"This was a very challenging case. And then, we implanted the covered stent to eliminate the endoleak. Actually, the outcome was pretty good. The patient will be discharged today," said Li Zilun.
The ability to handle such complex cases -- combining international techniques with domestically produced devices -- is drawing patients from around the world to seek treatment. In addition, high safety standards and low costs are also major draws.
"Our government is encouraging innovation. So, lots of physicians -- including our vascular surgeons -- we are actively involved in the innovation that helps to increase the effectiveness and safety, and also bring down the cost," said Li.
This hospital is one of the first in Guangdong to be designated by the provincial health commission as a pilot site for building an international medical service hub.
The growing number of patients has pushed the hospital to explore new ways to transform every step -- from treatment to payment and everything in between -- into a seamless experience, reducing waiting times and delivering better care for patients.
"I think it's fast. When the patient come here for just about, I think, one week, you can solve the problem," said Xiao Haipeng, president of the First Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University.
The hospital is also deepening its international cooperation with top-tier medical institutions, including those at Harvard University.
"Not just for China, for the whole globe, we are facing health care challenges -- emerging infectious disease and chronic, lung infectious diseases, and also the aging population, also the shortage of healthcare workforce," said Xiao.
In response to these challenges, China is promoting its own solutions, including aggressive innovation in artificial intelligence (AI)-driven workflows, while stepping up research and development investment and global engagement along the way.
"In recent years, the innovation in Western medicine is dramatically growing. An example of my hospital -- in the past few years, we have 140 innovations and seven of them are international leading innovations," said Xiao.
As global demand for medical tourism grows, China is positioning itself as a new destination. Official data shows that the number of foreign patients in Guangdong increased by 20 percent last year. Among them, the growth in inpatient admissions was even faster, rising by 76 percent.
Guangdong fast-tracks pilot for int'l medical service hub
