China household borrowing surged in October

China’s household borrowing and shadow banking activities surged last month despite Beijing’s repeated pledges to rein in overall debt. The latest central bank numbers show there is little sign that the world’s second-biggest economy has quenched its thirst for fresh credit, the South China Morning Post reports. Aggregate social financing, a broad measure of credit, rose 23% to a six-month high of 1.82 trillion yuan (US$276.6 billion) in September, buoyed by growth in bonds and entrusted loans, according to figures published by the People’s Bank of China on Saturday. New yuan lending was strong last month at 1.27 trillion yuan, 58% of which was granted to households, according to the central bank. At the same time, China’s broad money supply indicator, M2, rose 9.2% at the end of September, up from 8.9% a month earlier and the first increase in the monthly indicator this year.