New loans hit a record 1.32 trillion yuan in January 

 

　　"Commercial banks lent excessively in January, failing to comply with the central bank's window guidance. Therefore, credit extension will slow significantly in February," Xie Yaxuan, head of macro research at China Merchants Securities, said in an interview with a Securities Daily reporter.

 

　　Xie Yaxuan expects new credit in February to reach 700 billion yuan, factoring in fewer working days due to the Spring Festival.

 

　　Data show that as of Feb. 23, the four major state-owned banks—ICBC, Agricultural Bank of China, Bank of China and China Construction Bank—had extended 250 billion yuan in new renminbi loans for the month, below the level of the same period last year. New loans hit a record 1.32 trillion yuan in January.

 

　　Zhu Haibin, chief China economist at JPMorgan Chase, said that although all credit indicators in January exceeded expectations, new loans for the full year of 2014 are expected to total 9.8 trillion yuan. He also said the central bank will not adjust policy interest rates or reserve requirement ratios during the year, but will continue to curb credit.

 

　　It is worth noting that recent rumors of banks halting mortgage lending have unsettled the market. Industry researchers said banks are accelerating the adjustment of their credit structure to avoid over-reliance on real estate loans, and will reduce the scale of mortgage lending by raising mortgage thresholds, though development loans for affordable housing will grow steadily.

 

　　In fact, ICBC said in a clarification announcement that, in line with national macro-policy guidance, it is actively adjusting its credit structure to focus support on ordinary commodity housing and shantytown redevelopment and other affordable housing projects that comply with national regulatory policy. Agricultural Bank of China, China Construction Bank and Bank of China made similar statements.

 

　　Zhang Dawei, director of the market research department at Centaline Property, said that although banks have issued announcements saying they have not stopped real estate lending, it now appears that growth in both policy-related loans and development loans is very low.

 

　　The central bank's latest "Statistical Report on the Direction of Loans by Financial Institutions in 2013" noted that real estate loans grew steadily and relatively quickly last year, with new real estate loans totaling 2.34 trillion yuan for the year, accounting for nearly 30 percent of the increase in all loans during the period. Of this, the balance of land development loans stood at 1.07 trillion yuan, up 9.8 percent year on year. The balance of real estate development loans was 3.52 trillion yuan, up 16.3 percent year on year. The balance of individual home purchase loans was 9.8 trillion yuan, up 21 percent year on year. In addition, the balance of development loans for affordable housing was 726 billion yuan, up 26.7 percent year on year; it increased by 153 billion yuan for the year, accounting for 31 percent of the increase in real estate development loans during the period.