China’s banks issued CNY 1,610 billion in new yuan loans in June 2026, up sharply from May’s CNY 520 billion but significantly below both the CNY 2,238 billion recorded a year earlier and market expectations of CNY 2,000 billion. Although credit growth usually picks up in June as banks increase lending to meet quarterly targets, underlying loan demand remained weak.
At the same time, total social financing — a broad gauge of overall credit and liquidity in the economy — expanded by a net CNY 3.36 trillion, down from CNY 4.22 trillion a year earlier and short of the projected CNY 3.77 trillion. Overall loan growth slowed to 5.2%, the lowest rate since at least 1998, compared with 5.5% in the previous period and 7.1% a year earlier. The M2 money supply, the broadest measure of liquidity, grew 8% year-on-year, easing from 8.6% in May and falling short of forecasts of 8.5%.
