New loans extended by mainland banks fell last month but total financing soared, in a sign the economy is increasingly relying on riskier non-banking lending.
New bank loans totaled 8.2 trillion Yuan for the full year. However, total financing in the economy, which includes those by non-bank intermediaries, surged 23% to 15.76 trillion Yuan from 2011.
The country’s foreign-exchange reserves grew US25 billion in the last quarter to USD3.31 trillion at the end of December, the smallest quarterly gain since 2003.
~ SCMP, January 11, 2013 ~