China banks' 2015 new yuan lending hits new high

China's new yuan-denominated lending in 2015 hit 11.72 trillion yuan (1.79 trillion U.S. dollars), up 1.81 trillion yuan from one year earlier, latest data showed on Friday.

In December, banks' new lending reached 597.8 billion yuan, down 345.3 billion yuan from the same month of 2014, said the People's Bank of China (PBOC), the central bank.

M2, a broad measure of money supply that covers cash in circulation and all deposits, increased 13.3 percent year on year to 139.23 trillion yuan at the end of December, according to the PBOC.

The narrow measure of money supply (M1), which covers cash in circulation plus demand deposits, rose 15.2 percent year on year to 40.1 trillion yuan at the end of December. Enditem