Private sector takes the most heat from cooling policies

Central bank data published in China's state media show the government's efforts to cool the economy and slow lending are really walloping the private sector. New loans to private sector companies dropped from RMB 7.99 billion (US$962.7 billion) in March to RMB 2.97 billion the next month, to RMB 737 million in May. Curbs were first imposed in April. Citing the case of Wenzhou, where 95% of the city's GDP is generated by private companies, the South China Morning Post said new bank loans in May totaled RMB 224 million, 7% of the RMB 3.07 billion they were in May 2003. An economist at Beijing University's China Economic Research Centre said the current bias against private sector borrowers mirrored the impact of government cooling policies in 1994.