Jan. 16, 2007 (China Knowledge) – Chinese banks lent a total of RMB 3.18 trillion in 2006, the highest ever recorded, according to a central bank report released on Monday.

2006’s lending has broken the previous record of RMB 2.8 trillion in 2003. In 2005, Chinese banks lent RMB 2.35 trillion.

Having set a quota of RMB 2.5 trillion in the beginning of 2006, the central bank has made efforts to limit the amount of borrowing from commercial banks. These include raising the deposit reserve ratio four times in 2006, as well as raising loan interest rates twice in 2006.