China saw outstanding real estate loans accelerate as of the end of March from three months earlier while industrial lending slowed, official data showed Wednesday.
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By the end of last month, financial institutions in China had lent 12.98 trillion yuan ($2.08 trillion) to the property sector, up 16.4 percent year-on-year, according to statistics from the People's Bank of China, the country's central bank.
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The growth was 3.6 percentage points faster than that recorded at the end of last year, the PBOC said.
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Of the total, outstanding loans for property development quickened for the 10th consecutive month to reach 1.04 trillion yuan as of the end of March, with a year-on-year increase of 21.4 percent.
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Meanwhile, financial institutions extended 6.46 trillion yuan of medium- and long-term loans to the industrial sector as of the end of March, up 3.2 percent year-on-year.
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The increase was 0.6 percentage point less than three months earlier, dragged down by slower loans to the heavy industry, the PBOC said.
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Industrial output grew 9.5 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2013, down from 11.6 percent recorded last year, official data showed.
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Investment in property development gained 20.2 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, faster than the 16.2 percent growth in 2012.
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Altogether, outstanding loans by financial institutions in the country totaled 65.76 trillion yuan as of March end, up 14.9 percent year-on-year, but the growth was 0.8 percentage points slower from a year earlier, according to the PBOC.