China's lenders extended record high new yuan loans last month compared with any previous August as the government seeks financial support for new rounds of investment projects intended to spur economic growth.
New yuan lending reached 703.9 billion yuan ($111 billion) last month, up 155.5 billion from the same period last year, the People's Bank of China said on Tuesday, with the figure beating market expectations of around 600 billion yuan.
"The rapid lending growth in August shows that borrowing demand has started to rise after the government accelerated the approval of infrastructure construction projects. In addition, a more relaxed monetary policy is also prompting more bank loans," said Zhou Jingtong, a senior analyst at the Bank of China.
New corporate lending maturing in more than one year increased by 28.3 billion yuan from a month earlier, pulled up by increased investment in construction projects, said E Yongjian, an analyst at the Bank of Communications.
"But medium- and long-term corporate lending is still lower than the historic average. There is no substantial rise in corporate lending."
He said the jump is mainly attributable to increased home purchases in recent months and reflects a surge in individual lending related to the property market, which may not continue in the coming months.
Medium- and long-term consumer loans increased by 165.7 billion yuan last month, up 47.7 billion yuan from July, the biggest rise since April 2011.
Concerns over lending growth became increasingly intense after lenders lent just 540.1 billion yuan in July, the lowest level since October 2011.
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