Beijing is trying to prevent excessive lending that it says could lead to financial problems while ensuring adequate credit to keep the economic recovery on track.
Chinese leaders worry that a stimulus-driven torrent of lending is fueling a dangerous bubble in stock and real estate prices.
Beijing has ordered banks to set aside additional reserves and to keep lending stable, but the central bank has avoided raising interest rates, which might slow down growth.
The regulation on working capital loans stated that banks must calculate borrowers’ actual needs and also consider their cash flow, liabilities, repayment abilities and other factors when assessing loan applications.
Yahoo reports that on personal lending, the regulation says that borrowers may not obtain loans if they do not specify what the money is to be used for.