1st Ld-Writethru: China's new yuan loans beat expectations, M2 growth accelerates

BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- China's new yuan loans beat market expectations in November while broad money supply growth quickened, in a sign of continued resilience in the economy, central bank data showed Monday.

Chinese banks extended 1.12 trillion yuan (about 169.69 billion U.S. dollars) of new loans in November, up nearly 70 percent from a month ago and well above market expectations of around 0.8 trillion yuan.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 9.1 percent last month, up from the 8.8-percent gain seen in October, the People's Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement on its website.

Newly added total social financing, a broader measure of new credit in the economy, reached 1.6 trillion yuan in November, up from 1.04 trillion yuan in October.

A research team under China International Capital Corporation (CICC) attributed the stronger-than-expected growth to increased lending from policy banks and accelerated property loans during the period.

The central bank data showed new yuan loans made to home buyers, mainly consisting of personal housing mortgages, added 620.5 billion yuan during the period, and those made to non-financial enterprises and government institutions hit 522.6 billion yuan, indicating solid credit demand from the real economy.

China's central bank has been trying to strike a balance between defusing risks arising from shadow banking activities and guiding funds into the real economy to shore up growth.

In a bid to improve credit support for small and micro-sized enterprises, startups and agricultural production, the PBOC in September announced a targeted reserve requirement ratio (RRR) cut.

The new policy, which goes into effect in 2018, offers commercial banks an RRR cut of 0.5 to 1.5 percentage points from next year if their annual outstanding or new loans in inclusive financing reach certain requirements. Enditem