MNI BRIEF: China M2 Hits 6-Yr High; New Loans More Than Double

China's M2 money supply growth quickened to 12.2% y/y in August from 12% in July, meeting market forecasts. It was the fastest growth since April 2016, People's Bank of China data showed on Friday. M1 growth rose to 6.1%, slowing from 6.7%.

New loans more than doubled to CNY1.25 trillion from July's CNY679 billion, but fell short of a forecast for CNY1.5 trillion. Aggregate financing more than tripled to CNY2.43 trillion, up from the previous 6-year-low of CNY756.1 billion and beating expectations for a print of CNY2 trillion. On an annual basis, outstanding total social finance grew by 10.5%, compared with 10.7% last month.

Shadow banking transactions rose by CNY476.8 billion, compared to a contraction of CNY305.3 billion in July.