New yuan loans

NEW bank loans in China are expected to surge to a record high in January on a seasonal boost, a recent poll showed, while credit growth may be constrained by some marginal tightening of monetary policy as the central bank focuses on preventing risks.

Chinese banks are estimated to have issued 3.5 trillion yuan (US$542.06 billion) in net new yuan loans last month, up from 1.26 trillion yuan in December, according to the median estimate in a survey of 27 economists. The lending tally would be highest based on records, topping the 3.34 trillion yuan seen in January 2020. Total social financing, a broad measure of credit and liquidity, is expected to jump to 4.45 trillion yuan from 1.72 trillion yuan in December.

Bike output

THE country’s bicycle manufacturers reported robust output growth in 2020, partly buoyed by booming overseas demand, official data showed.

China’s output of two-wheeled bikes jumped 24.3 percent year on year to 44.37 million units last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Electric bike production surged to 29.66 million units during the period, up 29.7 percent from a year ago. Demand for bikes boomed last year, as cycling became more popular worldwide amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

FAW sales growth

FAW Group Corp. sold 420,458 vehicles in January, up 18.9 percent year on year, the company said Sunday.

Its own-brand sedan Hongqi sold 32,526 vehicles last month, soaring 157.5 percent year on year. The company’s joint ventures FAW-Volkswagen and FAW-Toyota also reported robust growth in both production and sales. Meanwhile, more than 79,000 units of Jiefang trucks were sold, a rise of about 27 percent year on year. FAW sold 3.7 million vehicles in 2020, up 7.1 percent from 2019. It plans to sell more than 6 million vehicles in 2025, growing at an average annual rate of close to 8 percent.