Yuan Loans

New yuan-denominated loans totaled 3.13 trillion yuan ($491.8 billion) in March, central bank data showed on April 11.

The figure, higher than the market forecast of 2.8 trillion yuan ($439.9 billion), marked an increase of 395.1 billion yuan ($62 billion) over the same period last year.

The M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 9.7 percent year on year to 249.77 trillion yuan ($39.2 trillion) at the end of the month, according to the People’s Bank of China. The growth rate was 0.3 percentage point higher from the same period last year.

The outstanding amount of M1, a narrow measure of money supply which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, stood at 64.51 trillion yuan ($10.1 trillion) at March end, up 4.7 percent year on year.

At the same time, the outstanding amount of M0, the amount of cash in circulation, went up 9.9 percent from a year ago to 9.51 trillion yuan ($1.49 trillion).

In the first quarter of 2022, the central bank injected a total of 431.7 billion yuan ($67.8 billion) of net cash into the market, the data showed. year on year to 5.23 trillion yuan ($821.6 billion), while imports rose 7.5 percent to 4.19 trillion yuan ($658.2 billion), leading to a surplus of 1.04 trillion yuan ($163.4 billion).

Mechanical and electrical product exports went up 9.8 percent to account for 58.4 percent of the total, while exports of labor-intensive products increased 10.9 percent.

“China’s foreign trade has sustained growth momentum and posted positive year-on-year expansion for seven consecutive quarters, demonstrating its great resilience and potential,” Li Kuiwen, a GACC spokesperson, said.

China’s trade with its major trading partners—the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the EU and the United States—gained 8.4 percent, 10.2 percent and 9.9 percent from a year ago, respectively.

Imports and exports between China and other Belt and Road