Massive increase in car purchase loans

China's banks approved new loans to car buyers worth Yn65bn in the first 11 months of last year, compared with a total of Yn42bn for the previous four years from 1998 to 2001, according to People's Bank of China figures. An official from the Asian Games Auto Village in Beijing told South China Morning Post that 80 per cent of its customers have car loans. The central bank will soon publish new regulations on the issue of car loans to individuals, said officials. These will cover the loan repayment duration and the minimum size of the down-payment, expected to be 10 per cent of the purchase price.