Lending by banks surges in January

Precautionary measures fend off negative effects of slower demand

China's credit growth surged unexpectedly to a record pace in January, strengthening production in the real economy and easing overall downward pressure, People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, said on Friday.

Bank lending in domestic currency increased by 3.23 trillion yuan ($476.8 billion) last month, the fastest single-month growth since the figure was first tracked in 1992. It increased by 2.9 trillion yuan in January 2018, the bank said.