Financial data kicks off the year with a bang! Money has increased, where is the nearly 5 trillion yuan in loans flowing to?

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Guo is a direct express

In 2026, China’s financial data growth exceeded expectations. Broad money (M2) supply and social financing scale grew relatively quickly, with renminbi loans increasing by 4.71 trillion yuan.

Data released by the People’s Bank of China on the 13th shows that as of end of January 2026, the balance of broad money (M2) was 34.719 trillion yuan, up 9.0% year on year. This was 0.5 percentage points higher than the previous month, and 2.0 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

The stock of social financing scale was 44.911 trillion yuan, up 8.2% year on year, 0.2 percentage points higher than the same period last year.

Total renminbi loans outstanding were 27.662 trillion yuan, up 6.1% year on year. Among services excluding the real estate sector, the balance of medium- and long-term loans was 6.003 trillion yuan, up 9.2% year on year.

Policy efforts continue to intensify—“more money”

Experts said that at the start of 2026, macro policies are becoming more proactive and effective. On one hand, moderately accommodative monetary policy continues to drive efforts: the structural tool interest rate was lowered by 0.25 percentage points. Banks are incentivized and guided to increase credit placements in key areas through market-based mechanisms.

On the other hand, the fiscal policy stance is becoming more proactive. In January, government bond financing was 976.4 billion yuan, which was 283.1 billion yuan more than in the same period last year. The issuance sizes of central government bonds, local government general bonds, and special bonds all increased noticeably. In January, the increment in government bond financing as a share of total social financing reached 13.5%, the highest level for the same period since 2021.

In addition to government bonds, direct financing channels such as corporate bond issuance and equity financing are also accelerating. With the economy’s new and old growth drivers speeding up their transition, high-tech industries and strategic emerging industries are rising rapidly. What is needed is a diversified set of financing channels—including equity and bond financing—to provide funding support across the entire life cycle.

Major projects are rolling out in clusters—“smooth money circulation”

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission issued a list of “Two Major Projects” for early-batch construction in 2026 and central budgetary investment, with a total scale of about 295 billion yuan. Regions are actively pushing for major projects to start early and build early, so as to quickly form actual work volume. This provides effective project carriers and a basis for aligning funds to stimulate investment vitality and promote credit issuance.

From the People’s Bank of China, Guo is a direct express learned that several banks reported that, this year’s first quarter, the approval pace for loans in the infrastructure construction sector noticeably accelerated, and the loan disbursement volume achieved a relatively large year-on-year increase.

Corporate lending steps up and improves in quality—“hot money toward new areas”

Data shows that in January, loans to (business and institutional) units increased by 4.45 trillion yuan, providing strong medium- and long-term funding support for key areas such as manufacturing and emerging industries.

The growth rates of technology loans, inclusive small and micro loans, and medium- and long-term manufacturing loans have continued to stay higher than the growth rate of all loans. The share of loans in the “five major articles” of finance has risen markedly, and the trend of credit resources consolidating into high-quality development areas is becoming increasingly clear.

Industry experts believe that the shift in where credit resources flow—from traditional sectors to emerging tracks—is not only a natural result of the economy’s structural transformation and upgrading, but also the core reflection of how financial support improves the quality and efficiency of the real economy.

Personal loan growth releases consumption demand

In January, household loans increased by 456.5 billion yuan. Of this, short-term loans increased by 109.7 billion yuan, and medium- and long-term loans increased by 346.9 billion yuan.

As the Spring Festival approaches, consumption demand concentrated around buying New Year goods, upgrading home furnishings, and travel for culture and tourism is releasing in a diversified way. The boosting effect on personal loan growth is especially evident.

Recently, three departments including the Ministry of Finance optimized and implemented interest subsidy policies for personal consumption loans. The policy term has been extended to the end of 2026, and the scope of support and interest-subsidy areas have been expanded, with the interest-subsidy standards increased. Smooth policy bridging is conducive to enhancing residents’ consumption willingness, and also provides support for personal loan growth.

Since the beginning of this year, the fiscal side has already introduced a series of policies to boost domestic demand, including four policies supporting private investment and two policies supporting consumption.

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