13.11.202509:20:41UTC+00China Bank Lending Disappoints

In October 2025, new yuan loans in China experienced a significant decline, plummeting to CNY 220 billion from CNY 1290 billion in September and CNY 500 billion in the same period the previous year. This figure fell short of market expectations, which projected CNY 500 billion, highlighting a persisting weakness in credit demand. The pronounced drop underscores tepid consumer spending and overall economic softness, posing a major challenge for policymakers attempting to bolster China's decelerating economy. Simultaneously, total social financing—which encompasses a wide range of credit and liquidity measures, including off-balance sheet financing avenues like initial public offerings, loans from trust companies, and bond sales—declined to CNY 810 billion from CNY 3530 billion in September. This figure was below the anticipated CNY 12300 billion and also lower than the CNY 1400 billion reported a year earlier. Loan growth further decelerated to 6.5%, marking the lowest rate since at least 1998, and falling below both the forecasted 6.6% and the 7.8% recorded the previous year.