China's 2013 lending hits 8.89tr yuan

China's new yuan-denominated lending was just under 8.9 trillion yuan (1.5 trillion U.S. dollars) in 2013, up 688 billion yuan year on year, the central bank announced on Wednesday. New loans denominated in foreign currencies hit 584.8 billion in 2013, representing a year-on-year decrease of 331.5 billion yuan, according to Sheng Songcheng, financial survey and statistics chief at the People's Bank of China. Total social financing, a measure of funds raised by entities in the real economy, stood at 17.3 trillion yuan last year, up 1.53 trillion yuan from a year earlier and a record high. The new yuan lending took about 51.4 percent of the social financing, the lowest amount in history and 0.6 percentage point lower than the previous year.