China's new yuan-denominated loans are expected to top 10 trillion yuan (about US$1.464 trillion) this year as lending in August continue to rise, a Friday report by Bank of Communications (BOCOM), the country's fifth largest lender, said.

New lending in August rose to 410.4 billion yuan, up more than 50 billion yuan from July, and about 139 billion yuan more than a year ago, according to the People's Bank of China, the central bank.

The August figure brought new yuan-denominated loans in the first eight months to 8.15 trillion yuan, 5.04 trillion yuan more than the same period last year.

Loans to resident sector, driven by the booming real estate market and the hike in auto sales at home, rose to 251.3 billion yuan in August, up about 201 billion yuan year on year, accounting for more than 60 percent of the new loans.

The BOCOM report forecast a monthly new loan volume of between 300 billion and 400 billion yuan for the rest of the year in China. The total new loans are expected to reach 10 trillion yuan for 2009.

Accelerating growth in fixed asset investment and industrial output in August suggests the increased confidence in the country's economic recovery, which in turn would require more credit for the real economy to expand, said the report.

China's National Bureau of Statistic released Friday a series of major economic figures for August, which show industrial output accelerated 12.3 percent from a year earlier, after gaining 10.8 percent in July.

Fixed-asset investment in China's urban areas rose 33 percent in the first eight months of 2009 from a year earlier to 11.3 trillion yuan.

Retail sales also grew 15.4 percent to 1,011.6 billion yuan year on year.

(Xinhua News Agency September 13, 2009)