New credit in China surges in January

China’s broadest measure of new credit jumped to a record in January even as new bank lending was weaker than expected, with companies turning to the shadow banking sector to get money. Total social financing (TSF) – which includes bond and equity issuance, trust loans and entrusted loans – was 3.74 trillion yuan ($544 million) in January, according to data released on Tuesday by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC). That figure exceeded market expectations for an increase of 3 trillion yuan, and beat the previous record of 3.48 trillion yuan, set in January 2016. Net new corporate bond issuance continued to fall, dropping by 54 billion yuan, but net new entrusted loans, which are used by banks to get around loan quotas and capital requirements imposed by the PBOC, jumped to 313.6 billion yuan, while undiscounted bankers acceptance bills surged to 613.1 billion, according to Caixin.