China's banking regulator said Monday night commercial bank lending should be studied and planned by boards of directors while reiterating a reasonable pace and quality of lending.

A spokesman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC) said commercial banks should meet requirements for capital adequacy and provision coverage, and should improve risk management.

China's new yuan-denominated lending last year hit a record 9.59 trillion yuan (US$1.4 trillion), almost double that of the previous year, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

Chinese commercial banks saw their bad loan ratio decline to 1.58 percent by the end 2009, down 0.84 percentage points from the beginning of 2009, according to the CBRC.

Bad loans stood at 497.33 billion yuan, down 62.98 billion yuan from the beginning of 2009.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2010)