State banks deny halting developer loans

China’s major banks denied reports that they had stopped lending to real estate developers, state media reported. The press offices of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (601398.SH, 1398.HK), Bank of China (601988.SH, 3988.HK), China Construction Bank (601939.SH, 0939.HK) and Agricultural Bank of China (601288.SH, 1288.HK) said they have not suspended loans to developers. State-run newspaper China Real Estate Business earlier reported that the four banks had suspended new loans to developers since the end of October and that they would not be issuing fresh financing to the sector for the rest of the year. Investment in property development during the first 10 months of the year reached US$574 billion, 36.5% higher than for the same period last year.