"China's Bank Lending Down"

[GreenPartyVoter]

BEIJING (AP) - China's bank lending fell 22 percent last month, suggesting official efforts to cool off the sizzling economy are taking effect, state media reported Tuesday.

New bank loans in June totaled 360 billion yuan ($45 billion), down 102.7 billion yuan ($13 billion) from the same month in 2005, the Xinhua News Agency and newspapers said.

The decline "showed a slew of central bank moves meant to rein in excessive lending and cool down the economy, including an interest rate hike at the end of April, were working," Xinhua said.

Chinese leaders have taken increasingly drastic steps to slow down surging investment and economic growth - raising interest rates and ordering banks to screen borrowers more carefully - warning that they could ignite inflation and cause problems for the country's fragile banks.

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20060711/D8IPPP400.html

[4dsc]

1. No slowing down here

The chinese are not slowing down in their hunt for gas and oil reserves worldwide. While they may be slowing their domestic growth, they are on a buying spree around the world for oil and gas..

[On the Road]

2. It's Very Hard to Borrow Money in China

even for ordinary business loans. And when the money is lent, it has to be repaid relatively quickly. And this is making it even more difficult.

Maybe this time, the Chinese financiers are the ones taking away the punchbowl.