Chinese banks boost lending in August

China’s broadest measure of new credit jumped by more than analysts expected in August, driven by bank lending as companies turned back to the formal banking system for money amid a government squeeze on informal and more risky debt, Caixin reports. Chinese commercial lenders extended 1.09 trillion yuan ($170 billion) in net new yuan loans in August, the central bank said Friday. The number exceeded analysts’ expectations of 950 billion yuan, and was up from 825 billion in July and 948.7 billion yuan in August 2016. Total social financing, the broadest measure of credit, which includes bond and equity issuance, trust loans and entrusted loans, stood at 1.48 trillion yuan in August, the People’s Bank of China said. The number, which also beat analysts’ expectations, was up from 1.22 trillion yuan in July but only marginally higher than the 1.46 trillion yuan a year earlier.