Briefly

PBOC issues 25b yuan of bills in Hong Kong

The People's Bank of China, the country's central bank, issued 25 billion yuan ($3.94 billion) worth of central bank bills in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region on Monday. Of the total, 10 billion yuan worth of central bank bills will mature in three months, and the other 15 billion yuan will mature in one year, with interest rates of 2.5 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively. The issuance was well received by overseas investors, with total bidding reaching about 60 billion yuan, roughly 2.4 times the value issued. The bidding reflects the strong attractiveness of renminbi assets to overseas investors and the confidence global investors have in the Chinese economy, the PBOC said.

Shanghai's balance of loans up 13% in Jan

The balance of loans in Shanghai stood at 9.81 trillion yuan ($1.55 trillion) at the end of January, up 13.1 percent year-on-year. The balance of loans in Chinese yuan reached 9.02 trillion yuan at the end of January, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, 0.6 percentage point lower than the previous month in growth rate, according to the People's Bank of China Shanghai Head Office. In January, new yuan loans stood at 197.8 billion yuan, 22.9 billion yuan less than the same period last year. The balance of foreign currency loans hit $123.6 billion at the end of January, up 21.2 percent year-on-year.

Xinhua