2011-01-12 09:36

BEIJING - China's bank lending growth is expected to continue decelerating in 2011, as the government continues to tighten monetary policy, notably in mortgages, a bank report said on Tuesday.

However, the total amount will remain large, as the demand for credit in the real economy remains voracious, according to a report released by the Shanghai-based Bank of Communications.

Further, the report predicted that new yuan loans for this year would stand between 7 trillion yuan ($1.06 trillion) and 7.5 trillion yuan.

Also, growth of outstanding yuan loans will stand between 14.5 percent and 16 percent, compared with a 19.9 percent increase in 2010.

Chinese banks lent 7.95 trillion yuan last year, according to figures released by the central bank Tuesday. Although the data was 1.65 trillion yuan less than the 2009 level of 9.6 trillion yuan, it still was beyond the government-set full-year ceiling of 7.5 trillion yuan.