MNI BRIEF: China Jan New Bank Lending Jumps To Record High

China's new bank lending rose to a record high in January as the central bank ramped up support for the slowing economy.

New loans increased to an historic high CNY3.98 trillion compared to the CNY1.13 trillion in December. The biggest contributors were short-term corporate loans with less than one-year maturity, which grew by CNY1.01 trillion compared to December's decrease of CNY102.04 billion, and shadow banking transactions, which increased by CNY447.9 billion, compared to a fall of CNY638.4 billion in December.

Aggregate financing was CNY6.17 trillion, almost triple the CNY2.37 trillion in December. On an annual basis, outstanding total social finance grew 10.5%, compared with 10.3% last month, data released by the People's Bank of China on Thursday showed.

M2 growth quickened to 9.8% y/y in January from December's 9.0%, the fastest since February 2021. Among the key metrics, M1 growth fell 1.9% y/y versus the previous 3.5% gain.