Lending 'is determined by market'

Domestic banks are guided by market conditions and prudence - and not government diktat - when issuing new loans, the chairman of Bank of China has asserted.

No political leader has told his bank to lend as part of the central government's stimulus package to cope with the economic crisis, Xiao Gang told China Daily.

The situation is the same with other commercial banks and has been so for many years, he said.